Features
Dr. Dre Says He Was Robbed
This time, though, it is to the tune of $20 million.
“They stuck it to me big time,” Dr. Dre, aka Andre Young, told the Los Angeles Times. “They lure you in with this pitch about how expert they are in the art of money management, then they just rob you blind.”
The rapper claims that in1993, Knight insisted he hire Coopers & Lybrand, which has since merged with Pricewaterhouse, to watch over the his finances. Dre hired Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman, the arm of the company that also managed Knight’s interests. Its accountant, Steven Cantrock, was eventually fired after an internal investigation and the firm paid $8 million to Knight to resolve his claims.
PwC sold Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman in 1998.
The firm has given a total of $10 million to Death Row Records, with the balance going to Death Row artist Snoop Dogg. PwC spokesperson Steven Silber would not comment to the Times as to why the firm refused to budge with Dre’s case after these other payouts.
According to court papers, the firm failed to pay Dre $4.6 million in salary, $1.1 million in artist advances, $3 million in publishing advances, $2.3 million in unpaid profit from Death Row and $2.9 million in artist and producer royalties.
The suit also contends that Cantrock made loans from Dre’s funds of approximately $775,000, plus unauthorized payments of more than $7.9 million. In addition, it alleges Cantrock authorized the purchase of jewelry that Dre never saw.
The firm has had its share of problems. The Securities and Exchange Commission censured PwC in January for conflict-of-interest violations when employees bought stock in companies they were auditing. PwC also paid out $108 million in fines in recent years for overlooking financial irregularities in Robert Maxwell’s British media empire.