Who

A longtime media executive, Greenstein is president of Sirius Satellite Radio, where he oversees the company's programming efforts.

Backstory

Greenstein started out as a mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer before transitioning into the entertainment industry and joining Miramax in 1993. One of Harvey and Bob Weinstein's closest confidantes at the studio, Greenstein helped negotiate big deals for the Weinstein brothers (such as the one that brought Oscar-winner The English Patient to Miramax) and became so powerful in the process that he was nicknamed "the third Weinstein brother." In 1997, Greenstein left to become co-president of October Films, which was purchased by Barry Diller in 1999 and turned into USA Films. Greenstein was named chairman and spent three years at the studio (where he outbid the competition for the rights to Steven Soderbergh's Traffic) before stepping down in 2002 after clashing with its new owners. He joined Sirius shortly thereafter as president of sports and entertainment. These days he reports to CEO Mel Karmazin, who took over from Joseph Clayton in 2004 and engineered the recent merger of Sirius and its chief rival, XM.

Of note

Greenstein's biggest deal to date, of course, was the 2004 blockbuster that brought Howard Stern to Sirius. The deal made sense for both parties. Stern was tired of the increasingly intrusive FCC regulations on commercial radio, and Sirius needed a major star to put them on the map. But the company took a major risk by signing Stern; as part of the deal, Sirius agreed to pay Stern about $100 million a year—a figure that, at the time, was nearly eight times as large as their annual revenues. Whether the investment in Stern is paying off is a matter of debate, but Sirius has added more than two million additional subscribers since his arrival.

Keeping score

He earned over $7 million in 2006, not counting stock options.

In person

Greenstein has gained a reputation as an aggressive, often ruthless executive and negotiator. "He will go anywhere, knock down any wall, call anyone, do anything, and I'm an admirer of that," Diller once said. Author Peter Biskind was less kind in Down and Dirty Pictures, his 2004 book about Miramax, calling Greenstein a "terrier on speed," "hatchet man," and "crime scene laundryman who wipes the blood off the walls."

Personal

He lives with his wife Sharon in Rumson, New Jersey, not far from his hometown of Freehold.

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