Bandier is the CEO and chairman of the music publishing company Sony/ATV.

A pianist-turned-lawyer-turned-music exec, Bandier was the general counsel for the Lefrak Organization before he co-founded The Entertainment Company with Sam LeFrak and Charles Koppelman in 1975. A decade later, he formed SBK Entertainment along with Koppelman and Stephen Swid, a venture they sold to EMI in 1989 for more than $300 million. Bandier stayed on with EMI following the sale, and helped turn the company from an also-ran into the industry leader with the acquisitions of Combine Music and CBS Songs. After a decade and a half at the helm, he jumped to Sony/ATV in early 2007.

Although music publishing isn't the sexy side of the business, it's enormously profitable; music publishers rep songwriters and get a cut every time a song is performed. The Sony/ATV catalogue—which, incidentally, is not part of Sony BMG, the joint venture between Bertelsmann and Sony—includes the work of Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, John Mayer, Sarah McLachlan. [Image via Getty]