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A former hip hop music exec, Stoute now runs Translation, a company that helps corporations market their junk to "multicultural" consumers and connects blue-chip companies with cash-hungry celebs who are willing to shill for them. His partner in the latter venture is Jay-Z. Stoute's also well known for having been pummeled by Diddy in the late '90s.

Stoute broke into the music business in the early 1990s when an acquaintance introduced him to the rap duo Kid 'N Play. He was soon running his own music management company (he represented Mary J. Blige and Nas, among others), and worked at RCA and Sony Music before heading to Interscope as EVP. In 1999, Stoute partnered with adman Peter Arnell to launch a marketing company called PASS. The duo generated headlines when they negotiated a deal that put Reebok together with Allen Iverson and the rapper Jadakiss. PASS was sold to the Omnicom Group in 2001, but Stoute stayed on as chairman until 2003, when he set up the branding and consulting company Translation, which "arranges fruitful marriages between corporate America and pop culture," such as Jay-Z designing a line of sneakers for Reebok and Justin Timberlake appearing in McDonalds' "I'm Lovin' It" commercials.

A year after the company's launch, Stoute's old employer Interscope acquired a 20% share in Translation in order to tap Stoute's synergistic magic for its artists like Gwen Stefani, whose Harajuku Lovers design for a Hewlett-Packard digital camera was a money-maker for all concerned. In 2007, with the business performing nicely, Stoute flipped Translation to Interpublic for a price he's declared was between $10 million and $15 million. Though he no longer owns the firm, he remains its head, and in 2008 he and frequent collaborator Jay-Z started a subsidiary of Translation called Translation Advertising, which works with marketers looking to target minority consumers.

In 1999, Diddy and two pals showed up at Stoute's office at Interscope and beat him with a Champagne bottle and a telephone in a dispute over a music video. Unfortunately for Diddy, the incident was caught on a security camera. He later pleaded guilty to harassment, and was sentenced to a one-day class in anger management. The pair says they have since reconciled.

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