A longtime confidante of Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone, Dauman is the CEO of Viacom. He replaced Tom Freston in September of 2006.

The child of French immigrants, Philippe grew up in New York and first came to Sumner Redstone's attention as an associate at the white-shoe law firm Shearman & Sterling. Over the following decade he became one o the media mogul's trusted advisors and assisted him on a variety of legal fronts, joining Viacom's board of directors in 1987. Six years later, Dauman left Shearman & Sterling to join Viacom as its general counsel and executive vice president. He remained at the company as one of Redstone's chief lieutenants until 2000, when he was forced out after Mel Karmazin was appointed CEO of Viacom. Along with his right-hand, Tom Dooley, Dauman founded a media-focused private equity firm, DND Capital Partners. But he returned soon enough. After Redstone kicked Tom Freston to the curb in 2006, Dauman was lured back to Viacom as CEO. Dooley returned as well and is now the company's chief administrative officer.

Dauman has certainly demonstrated some bite: Just months after moving into the CEO suite, he filed a $1 billion suit against Google for "massive intentional copyright infringement" after clips from Viacom shows—like The Daily Show and Colbert Report—continued to appear on YouTube despite repeated warnings. Dauman has also tried his demonstrate his discipline to Wall Street, cutting costs, slashing hundreds of jobs, and sending several senior execs packing, including MTV COO Michael Wolf and Paramount president Gail Berman.

But while some investors may be pleased, Dauman's fans aren't exactly lining up around the block: His role in ousting widely-admired Freston and his image as a stiff corporate suit hasn't earned him many admirers at the company—or Hollywood at large for that matter, particularly after he made disparaging comments about DreamWorks in late 2007. For the moment, though, Dauman has the unpredictable Redstone's trust, which is really the only thing that matters. But how much longer that will continue is anyone's guess: With Redstone's health on the decline and without a clear successor, it remains a mystery who'll be calling the shots when Redstone departs the scene.

This image was lost some time after publication.