Dr. Dre joins Jay-Z as second hip-hop billionaire on Forbes’ list

Music mogul Dr. Dre rapped about “no more livin’ hard” more than two decades ago on the 2001 track “Still D.R.E.” Now, he has leveled up to billionaire status.

The Compton, California-born hip-hop musician and producer who popularized a funkier genre of gangsta rap has joined Forbes’ Billionaires list, the media outlet says.

A profile of Dr. Dre, 61, born Andre Young, is Forbes’ April/May cover story – you can also read the story on Forbes.com – and you can find him on the Forbes Billionaires list sandwiched between technologist Vladimir Ivanov and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. He also joins other musicians Beyoncé, Rihanna, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift and Jay-Z on Forbes’ World Celebrity Billionaires list.

Dre tells Forbes he continues to work on music, including early 400 unreleased tracks created during the pandemic. “Who knows if something is gonna happen to make me come up with the best thing I’ve ever done in my life?” he tells Forbes. “The exciting part is there’s the potential of that. It’s exciting and depressing at the same time because I know it’s there, and what if I don’t find it?”

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Dre’s production beyond music helped push him towards billionaire status. He and record label chairman Jimmy Iovine founded Beats Electronics in 2008 and made $300 high-end headphones a status symbol. Six years later, they sold Beats to Apple for $3 billion.

“Financially, I’m in a place I never dreamed of,” Dre told USA TODAY at the time. “Now, I’m just ready to get started with the work.”

Since then, Dre has teamed with Snoop Dogg (Iovine is an investor, too) on Gin & Juice By Dre and Snoop ready-to-drink cocktails and Still G.I.N. By Dre and Snoop, an ultra-premium gin, both of which came to market in 2024.

“I don’t chase money – I try to make the money chase me,” Dre told Forbes, who also ranked Dre as No. 20 on its list of the Greatest Self-Made Americans. “I’ve always been able to bet on myself, and whatever I do and wherever I go, I know I have my talent with me.”

Before he became a billionaire, Dr. Dre produced hits

Dre may be best known for his solo debut “The Chronic,” released in 1992, which helped introduce Snoop Dogg to listeners – and sold more than 3 million units in 1993, earning Dre his first of seven Grammy awards. Before that, he was a member of N.W.A., founded with Eazy-E, and notably including Ice Cube amongst its members.

After leaving Death Row Records, which he co-founded, Dre created Aftermath Entertainment and continued to work with Snoop Dogg, producing his debut “Doggystyle,” and furthered the career of the late Tupac Shakur, collaborating on “California Love,” and produced albums for Eminem and 50 Cent.

Dr. Dre presents the BET Ultimate Icon Award to Snoop Dogg (R) during the 2025 BET Awards at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on June 9, 2025.

Dre first appeared on Forbes’ highest-earning celebrities list in 2001, the outlet says, after he sold 30% of his stake in Aftermath to Interscope for $35 million. Aftermath had released Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady” and 50 Cent’s “In Da Club,” along with Dre’s second solo album, “2001,” which sold more than 6 million copies.

Four years ago, Dre headlined the first-ever hip-hop-centric Super Bowl halftime show and was joined by Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent and Kendrick Lamar. “I feel like I still have a lot of gas in the tank,” Dre told Forbes, which interviewed him at his Los Angeles mansion, which includes a swimming pool, theater, gym and studio. “I just want to wake up and be motivated to do something.”