Who

The co-host of NBC's Today show, Lauer is the man many women love to wake up to. He's been known to speak truth to power—or at least to Tom Cruise.

Backstory

Raised in Greenwich, Lauer dropped out of college and started his career in television in 1979 as a producer at a West Virginia station. He soon moved in front of the camera, hosting weekly programs in Boston and Philly before arriving in New York in 1989 to host the show 9 Broadcast Plaza on WWOR-TV. But two years later, he was canned—and he went more than a year without a job, making money filling in as an occasional entertainment reporter for HBO. In 1992, he caught a break when WNBC hired him for the five o'clock newscast alongside Sue Simmons. While working for the local affiliate he got his first chance to fill in on Today, and by 1994 he was a full-timer, serving as news anchor while also maintaining his duties at WNBC. Following the departure of Bryant Gumbel in 1997, Lauer was named co-host. For nearly a decade, he sat alongside Katie Couric until she stepped down in 2006 and was replaced by Meredith Vieira.

Of note

Easygoing Lauer rarely generates much drama during his shmooze-fests with celebs and politicians, which is of course the point—he's supposed to be loved by all and as innocuous as a Cocker Spaniel. Occasionally, though, just to remind the audience that he's a journalist, he asks a tough question or two and generates some buzz. In 1999, he so upset Monica Lewinsky during a particularly rough interview that she refused to speak to him afterwards. A year later, a lengthy interview with Hillary Clinton marked the first time she made mention of the "vast right-wing conspiracy" that was out to get her and her husband. Most famously, in 2005, he argued with Tom Cruise over psychiatry and the use of Ritalin—the actor called Lauer "glib" and said, "You don't know the history of psychiatry. I do."

Keeping score

In 2006, Lauer signed a five-year deal with NBC, estimated to be worth $13 million a year. When Couric was on the program, he was rumored to make less than her. (She was reportedly paid $15 million a year.) Since her departure, Lauer has become the highest-paid employee of NBC News.

Personal

Lauer married Annette Roque, a former model originally from Holland, in 1998. It's his second marriage: His ex-wife is Nancy Alspaugh, a TV producer and the author of the book Fearless Aging; they divorced in 1989 after seven years. Lauer and Roque have three children: Jack, Romy and Thijs (a Dutch name, pronounced "Tice"). The family lives on East 64th Street, in an apartment they purchased for $6 million in 2004. They also own a house in Water Mill.

True story

Lauer was four credits short of graduating from Ohio University. In 1997, when he returned to campus to deliver the commencement address, the school issued him a communications degree, counting his journalism experience as "independent study."