Undercover zillionaires

Warner Music Group Vice Chairman Lyor Cohen

Title: Vice Chairman; Chairman and CEO, Recorded Music

Company: Warner Music Group

CEO: Edgar M. Bronfman*

Pay difference: $1.5 million

Cohen heads Warner's recorded music division, and he boasts an ear for the Next Big Thing that earned him $6.5 million in 2010. His specialty is hiphop acts, signing artists such as the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and Public Enemy over a career that's spanned more than two decades.

Cohen became president of Def Jam Records in 1988 and later expanded the iconic hiphop label into rock and R&B, picking up acts like Mariah Carey, Elvis Costello and Bon Jovi. Sounds like a pretty good track record. --J.O.

Source: Equilar, Inc.

* Stephen F. Cooper replaced Bronfman as CEO in August 2011.
Methodology: Total compensation is calculated as the sum of base salary, discretionary and performance-based cash bonuses, the grant-date fair value for stock and option awards during the fiscal year, and other compensation like earnings on deferred compensation, benefits and perks. Equilar, an executive compensation research firm, looked at CEOs at 1,000 of the largest public U.S. companies as measured by revenue. Pay data based on companies' fiscal year end of Dec. 2010, the latest data available, unless otherwise noted. Cash compensation and stock and options increases may not add up exactly to total compensation increases due to rounding.

By Stacy Cowley and James O'Toole @CNNMoney - Last updated January 06 2012: 5:23 PM ET

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Undercover zillionaires