Chair and Chief Executive, Universal Music Group

Grainge keeps the world’s largest recorded-music conglomerate ($11 billion in annual revenue) riding high through the treacherous digital revolution. He is working with industry stakeholders to revamp the streaming economic model that in January he said “undervalues” music labels and artists. Grainge bolstered his music publishing arm buying artist catalogs, resulting in ranking No. 1 on the Billboard publishing chart for the third-straight quarter in March. Universal distributes recorded music from Taylor Swift, K-pop sensation BTS, the “Encanto” soundtrack, Drake, The Weeknd and the Beatles catalog. The London-born executive was knighted in 2016 so he is officially “Sir Lucian Grainge.” He is based in Santa Monica.

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