SIMON COWELL
Early LifeCowell was born in Brighton, East Sussex, England and brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire.
His father, Eric Philip Cowell, was an estate agent developer and music industry executive, and his mother, Julie Brett, is a former ballet dancer and socialite.[
Cowell attended Dover College as did his brother, but left early before sixth form. He took a few unskilled jobs, but did not get along well with co-workers and bosses, until his father who was executive at the recording giant at EMI Music Publishing, managed to get him a job in the mail room.
Professional careerHis father's connections originally got him rehired as the assistant to an A&R man. From there onwards, Simon worked his way up and eventually got promoted to a music publishing position but left during the early 1980s to form E&S Music with his boss at EMI, Ellis Rich, now Chairman of the Performing Right Society.
The company had several hit records at one point with five singles in the UK top 40. The offices were in a converted gentleman's washroom in the NCP car park on Brewer Street in London's Soho district. Simon left by mutual agreement a few years later.
One year later, Cowell went to work for Iain Burton, manager of choreographer Arlene Phillips, co-founder of dance group Hot Gossip and of nascent independent record label Fanfare Records. Cowell worked with Burton for eight years at Fanfare where he achieved his first real success in the music industry, becoming a partner and building Fanfare into a highly successful 'indie' pop label.
In 1984, Cowell and Burton met up with Pete Waterman for the first time. Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman together formed the songwriting and record producing trio known as Stock Aitken Waterman. Stock Aitken Waterman helped Fanfare during the second half of the 1980s producing several smash hit singles for Sinitta and licensing The Hit Factory SAW Compilation Albums to Fanfare.
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In 1989, Fanfare's parent-company, Public Company, got into difficulties, forcing Fanfare into the hands of BMG, and Cowell, in debt, to move back in with his parents. Later that year, he became an A&R consultant for BMG.
Subsequently, Cowell signed up a number of acts to S-Records that made a mark in the pop music world, including Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia Evans, Five, Westlife, Robson & Jerome, and Ultimate Kaos. He also released several novelty recordings featuring the likes of wrestlers of the World Wrestling Federation, Teletubbies, Zig and Zag and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, that were huge successes.
Cowell set up another label, Syco Records, in 2002 which later became part of Columbia Records and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Artists such as Leona Lewis, Il Divo and contestants from The X Factor and America's Got Talent are released on Syco.
In 2006, Cowell signed to two more record-breaking deals. In the USA, he agreed to remain as a judge on American Idol, earning £20 million ($40 million) per season for another 5 years. He also has a deal with FOX which allows his production company to broadcast Got Talent and American Inventor on other networks, but he may not appear on them. In the UK, he signed a "golden handcuffs" deal with ITV, worth approximately £6.5 million a year for 3 years, which gave ITV rights to his hit talent show The X Factor, a British singing talent show, and Grease Is The Word, a musical talent show to find the stars of a Grease production in London's West End. In late 2005, he signed a new contract to remain working for Sony BMG.
What he has worked on:Pop Idol- both UK/US
X Factor- both UK
American Inventor- both US
Got Talent- franchise- both UK/US
Celebrity Duets- executive producer US
Grease in the world- executive producer UK
Rock Rivals- executive producer UK
MiscellaneousDropped out of school at 16
His girlfriend is Terri Seymour
Is a vegetarian
In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings at $45 million for the year.
Ranked #6 in the 2008 Telegraph's list "the 100 most powerful people in British culture".
In 2007, he earned an estimated $72 million in income from his various projects. $45 million from American Idol, $15 million from Britain's Got Talent and X Factor, and $12 million from his record label.
Salary$50 million (2008)
Net worth▲US$200 million (£112 million)
