Music industry mogul Lyor Cohen has worked with some of the biggest acts in hip hop including Run-DMC and A Tribe Called Quest but what is his net worth? He might be one of the biggest names in the music business, but Lyon Cohen actually started his working life with a job as a financial analyst before quickly realizing music was his true calling. He began promoting music shows featuring acts like Run-DMC and the Red Hot Chili Peppers which caught the attention of godfather of hip hop Russell Simmons, who invited him to work in New York at his company Rush Productions.
From there, Lyor Cohen began managing acts like Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy and was soon signing artists to Rush Productions including Slick Rick, A Tribe Called Quest and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince (AKA Jefferey Allan Townes and Will Smith, Gemini Man). By 1988, Cohen took over Rick Rubin’s role as president of legendary hip hop label Def Jam after Rubin and co-founder Simmons parted ways. Cohen remained at Def Jam for several more years, working with acts like Jay-Z and Kanye West, before departing in 2004 for a job as chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group.
At Warner, Cohen helped nurture the careers of acts like Wiz Khalifa, The Black Keys and Death Cab For Cutie. He also spearheaded a licensing agreement between Warner and YouTube, becoming the first major label executive to do so, and later oversaw a similar deal with Spotify. With such a long and pioneering career in the industry, it shouldn’t be too surprising to learn Lyor Cohen has an estimated net worth of around $75 million according to Celebrity Net Worth.
In 2013, Cohen co-founded the record label 300 Entertainment alongside fellow music industry execs Todd Moscowitz, Kevin Liles, and Roger Gold. The label went on to sign several then-upcoming rap and hip hop acts including Young Thug, Fetty Wap and Migos before Cohen left the label in 2016 and handed over the CEO reins to colleague Kevin Liles.
Nowadays, Lyor Cohen is on the board of directors at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and works as the Global Head of Music at YouTube – a position he’s held since December 2016. At YouTube, Cohen was instrumental in the launch of the streaming service YouTube Music which was introduced to compete on a more level playing field with the likes of Apple and Spotify.
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