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Who

Often hailed as the most powerful man on Madison Avenue, Gotlieb is CEO of giant media buying agency GroupM, a job that gives him control of 17 percent of worldwide advertising spending.

Backstory

Born in China after his parents fled Russia in 1939, Gotlieb spent his formative years in Japan and in 1970 moved to New York, where he spent some time cutting stones in the Diamond District. A tech whiz who pioneered the use of computers in media buying and planning, Gotlieb taught himself Fortran, and in 1977 built his own modeling software at Benton & Bowles when the agency told him the system he wanted was cost-prohibitive. He stayed with the media giant for 22 years, rising to CEO of the TeleVest group in 1993, before leaving for Mindshare in 1999. As Mindshare's CEO, he consolidated the media buying units of WPP giants Ogilvy & Mather and J. Walter Thompson. In 2003, when Mindshare was rolled up under the even larger GroupM umbrella—now representing more than $60 billion in annual ad spending—he took the reins at GroupM.

Of note

GroupM is the largest company of its kind, and its companies buy ads for the largest global brands (Unilever, Pfizer, and Kraft), a position that gives Gotlieb enormous influence over the TV and radio industries. The agency is still growing, too: 2007 was a banner year—revenues exceeded $2 billion—and they're now expanding abroad to China and India. In recent years, Gotlieb's units have come up with clever programs that go beyond traditional 30-second spots. MindShare worked with Sears and ABC to develop the sponsorship of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (the family's home is renovated with products from Sears, naturally) and Mediaedge:ca arranged the deal that made AT&T the "lifeline" on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. But Gotlieb has also taken heat within the industry for adopting the controversial practice known as "volume override," a rebate scheme that puts more money in the pockets of media buyers.

Keeping score

Media reports put his 2005 compensation at $4.2 million, making him the second highest-paid executive inside WPP.

Personal

Gotlieb and his wife, Liz, live in Briarcliff Manor. A pianist and self-confessed tech-geek, he spends his spare time building audio systems and assembling custom racing bikes.

No joke

According to popular legend, Gotlieb avoids smiling for photographs, lest the TV networks (with whom he must negotiate at the annual upfronts) get a glimpse at his softer side. "I need to look demonic," he has said.