Swizz Beatz is Not the CEO of Megaupload

January 20, 2012


Today, Megupload's top lawyer tells Venture Beat that Swizz Beats is not, in fact, CEO of Megaupload. Attorney Ira Rothken says, “To my knowledge, Swizz Beatz was never involved in any meaningful way. He was negotiating to become the CEO, but it was never official.”

Swizz, born Kasseem Dean, was not named in the indictment filed against the now-shuttered file-sharing site yesterday, one of the largest-ever criminal copyright cases taken up by the United States. He spent Thursday going out for Chinese. So he'll be available for the Ruff Ryders reunion tour?

UPDATE, Monday, 1/23/12: On Sunday, the New York Post disputed attorney Ira Rothken's claim that Swizz Beatz was never Megaupload's CEO, reporting that Swizz was officially tied to the company for almost a year. The Post’s sources claim that the producer, "is very much in the dark about this investigation," but, "expects to be questioned by the FBI." "This appears to be a situation where Swizz agreed to be CEO without first doing his due diligence about the company," an unnamed source told the paper.

Swizz Beatz is Not the CEO of Megaupload