Simon Cowell

Simon Cowell is best known as the harsh judge on the hit TV series American Idol. He is co-finder of the record company S Records as well as the hit TV series X-Factor.

He was born on October 7, 1959. He left boarding school at 16 to work as a mailing clerk for EMI Music Publishing, alongside his father. Simon managed to climb the corporate ladder and later became record producer of EMI. After a taste of success, he decided to start his own music company, E&S Music. His business failed to prosper forcing him to return to EMI. Shortly after returning to EMI, Simon made another attempt at success by starting Fanfare Records with partner Iain Burton in 1985. He had more luck the second time round and his company thrived thanks to artist and ex-lover, Sinitta.

Only 4 years later, Simon was made the A&R Consultant for BMG and his career took off. There he signed various famous artists including Westlife and 5ive. In 2001, he appeared as a judge on the 1st season of American Idols where he became the talk of the town for his crude comments. In 2002, he started the record label, S Records, which signed Idol winner Will Young and brought in over 1.8 billion sales.

Simon became an instant multi-millionaire shortly thereafter when he sold his half-share in S Records to BMD for $42 million. He landed a spot as a judge on Pop Idols and later American Idols where his media presence grew.

He then embarked on a new path and underwent a 2 year search for young classical singers. In this time he found David Miller (USA), Carlos Marín (Spain), Urs Bühler (Switzerland) and Sébastien Izambard (France) who ultimately gained over 100 gold and platinum awards around the world.

The Britt makes his wealth off being one of the most hated celebrities in the world. In 2003 he published a book called 'I don't mean to be rude but...' and has starred on prime TV for numerous shows including Top Gear, Who wants to be a millionaire and Punk'd.

His net worth is estimate at $200 million.