Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and Apple Ordered to Pay Former Business Partner $25 Million in Back Royalties

They were defiant, and now they have to cough up $25 million.

A Los Angeles jury has ordered Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and the Apple-acquired Beats Electronics to pay former business partner Steven Lamar millions in back royalties for his contributions to the company.

via NYDN:

The jury found Lamar deserved $25.2 million in back royalties as well as ongoing royalties for future sales of Beats Studio3 headphones, Lamar’s lawyer Stephen Morrissey told the Daily News.

Morrissey said with interest and attorney’s fees, the final judgment should be “somewhere around $45 million.”

“We’re happy with the result based on the evidence the jury got to consider. We think it validates our case and Mr. Lamar’s role in getting Beats started and setting up the flagship design,” he said.

The lawyer said Dr. Dre and Iovine, who detailed the partnership in the HBO documentary series “The Defiant Ones,” are on the hook for payment along with Apple, which purchased the Beats business for $3 billion in cash and stock in 2014.

“They’re all jointly responsible,” Morrissey said Wednesday. “I don’t know what agreements they have as to how to split up responsibility, but obviously they’re good for the money,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ll have to put a lien on anyone’s house,” he joked.

Lawyers for Dre, Iovine and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Morrissey said he expects them to appeal the jury verdict.

“It’s been 4-year battle. We don’t expect them to roll over now,” he said.

Well — if it’s his money, it’s his money. Pay the man.