Lyor Cohen Net Worth - Pulptastic
What is Lyor Cohen’s Net Worth?
Lyor Cohen, an American music industry executive, has a net worth of $150 million dollars. He began his career managing rappers at Rush Productions in the ’80s and later ran the label Def Jam in the ’90s. Cohen left Def Jam in 2004 to become chairman and chief executive of Warner Music Group. He founded 300 Entertainment, an independent label, in 2012. In September 2016, he was named YouTube’s Global Head of Music, and soon after announced his departure from 300 Entertainment.
Lyor Cohen’s Background
Lyor Cohen was born on October 3, 1959, in New York City to Israeli immigrant parents. He was raised in Los Angeles and attended Marshall High School. After graduating in 1977, he earned a global marketing and finance degree from the University of Miami in 1981. Cohen then went on to work at Bank Leumi’s Beverly Hills office. His brother is bass guitarist Daniel Shulman.
Lyor Cohen’s Career Highlights
Lyor Cohen started out promoting shows by Run-DMC and Whodini at Hollywood’s The Mix Club in 1984 before moving to New York to work with Russell Simmons’ Rush Productions. As Run-DMC’s road manager, he eventually began signing artists to the label. He brokered endorsement deals for several artists and was known for his negotiating skills and “no-nonsense approach to business.” Under his leadership, Rush was seen as rap’s “premier management operation” in the late ’80s. Cohen and Simmons also launched Rush Associated Labels, which dealt with Def Jam and its spinoff labels. In 1994, Cohen helped negotiate Def Jam’s move from Sony Music to PolyGram and was running day-to-day operations at Def Jam by this point.
Island Def Jam Merger and Expansion
After the PolyGram/Universal merger in 1998, Def Jam, Mercury, and Island were merged into The Island Def Jam, and Lyor Cohen became co-president of the label. The label expanded its roster to include non-rap artists like Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi, Elvis Costello, and Shania Twain. Cohen was also involved in Def Jam’s acquisition of heavy-metal label Roadrunner in 2001 and a deal to distribute music from Rick Rubin’s American Recordings.
Lyor Cohen’s Career Highlights
In 2004, Cohen left Def Jam for Warner Music Group and oversaw the Atlantic/Elektra merger. He promoted his protégée, Julie Greenwald, to chairman and CEO of Atlantic in 2009, making her the highest-ranking female executive at a U.S. record company.
He was involved in a deal between YouTube and Warner in 2006, marking the first time a major record company licensed content to YouTube. In 2011, he oversaw an agreement with Spotify.
Formation of 300 Entertainment
In September 2012, Lyor Cohen left Warner and launched 300 Entertainment, a company described as “part label, part marketing company, part distributor” with backing from Google and Atlantic.
Move to YouTube
In 2016, Cohen left 300 Entertainment and took on the role of Global Head of Music at YouTube.
Lyor Cohen’s Personal Life
Lyor Cohen married model E.K. Smith in 1988 after meeting her on the set of the Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” video. They later divorced. Cohen married his second wife, Amy, in 1990, and they had two children before divorcing in 2006. Their son Az helped save Cohen’s life when he suffered a pulmonary embolism in 2016. Cohen married model and former basketball player Xin Li in August 2016, who is currently the deputy chairman of Christie’s Asia. Cohen has been a board member for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and acted as director of Boys & Girls Harbor, a New York-based nonprofit organization.
Real Estate Ventures of Lyor Cohen
In the year 2000, Lyor Cohen bought an Upper East Side townhouse for $9.175 million. A decade later, in 2010, he listed it for sale at $28 million. Two years after that, in 2012, he sold the property for almost $25 million.
In 2014, Lyor purchased a townhouse in NYC for $11.4 million, which was lower than the original asking price of $14.5 million. The new property was spread across an area of 4,440 square feet.
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