Rafferty Jackson
Beats Electronics, the maker of bestselling Beats By Dre headphones, announced Monday that Rafferty Jackson will be debuting at No. 1 in the company’s legal department as its first general counsel and executive vice president.
Jackson comes to the Santa Monica-based audio-products brand with an album’s worth of in-house credits on her resume. For the past five years, she served as GC for VF Outdoor Inc., a manufacturer of apparel, footwear, and equipment for such labels as The North Face and JanSport. Before that, Jackson was general counsel for Ubiquity Software and associate general counsel for Macromedia Inc.
In a statement, Beats President and COO Luke Wood said, “Rafferty’s 20 years of experience at the cross section of retail and technology is perfectly suited for Beats and where we’re heading.”
Jackson, who will be reporting directly to Wood, also cited her familiarity with brand-based in-house work, saying “Joining Beats allows me to bring my technology and brand-building expertise to the visionaries who are passionate about disrupting the sound and music market.”
Beats was founded in 2008 by hip-hop artist and producer Dr. Dre and veteran record executive Jimmy Iovine, seeking to combine high-quality headphone sound with a fashion-forward visual style. The company’s signature Beats By Dre headphones have since become ubiquitous amongst music fans, with Beats reporting $350 million in revenue in 2011. In 2012, the company acquired the streaming-music service MOG.
On the way to such success and corporate expansion, Beats also had a chronically troubled relationship with electronic-accessories company Monster Inc., which was recently detailed in a lengthy Gizmodo story.
The new GC will be providing strategic and legal advice for what Jackson says is Beats’ “next level of performance, innovation, and growth.”
Jackson earned a B.A. in history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and got her law degree at the University of California, Hastings College of Law.
