Trent Reznor walks, according to reports.

Between making ear-shredding electro rock and writing music for David Fincher, Reznor has kept busy with a key role as Chief Creative Officer at speakers’n’streaming giant Beats Electronics. Beats, of course, has just been acquired by Apple for a cool $3bn, leaving founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine in serious clover.

As USA Today report, Reznor’s relationship with Beats has now come to an end. The site claims that Renzor appears to have left the company, and also points out that other figures have also recently thrown in the towel – technology executive Frederic Vinna to Spotify, co-founder Ola Sars to another Spotify-bankrolled project.

The explicit reasons why Reznor has left the Beats fold remain unclear, but Consequence of Sound note that Reznor has had run-ins with Apple in the past. In 2009, Reznor had a barney with the tech mega-corp over its decision to ban an app created for his album The Downward Spiral (choice quote: “Hey Apple, I just got some spam about fucking hot Asian teens through your e-mail program. I just saw two guys having explicit anal sex right there in Safari!”)

Last year, we rifled through the Reznor archives to unearth 20 of his finest deep cuts.

Update: Rolling Stone are carrying a statement from Beats’ official spokesperson, who claims that reports about Reznor’s departure are “all false”, and that Reznor will not be leaving the company. There’s been no comment from Reznor himself as yet.