Simon Cowell
Synopsis
Simon Philip Cowell, an English reality television judge, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, is known for his appearances on the English TV series including Pop Idol, The X-Factor, American Idol and America’s Got Talent.
Cowell is the principal founder and chief executive of the British entertainment company Syco.
He recently appeared in the twelfth season of America’s Got Talent and the eleventh series of Britain’s Got Talent.
Early Life and Education
Cowell was born as Simon Phillip Cowell on October 7, 1959, in Lambeth, London, England. He is a British by nationality belonging to the White ethnicity. He is the son born to Julie Brett (mother) and Eric Selig Phillip Cowell.
Cowell grew up in Elstree, Hertfordshire with his parents. His mother, Julie Brett was a ballet dancer and socialite, whereas his father, Eric Selig Phillip Cowell, Sr. (1918-1999) who was an estate agent developer and music industry executive.
Cowell has many siblings. Simon has a younger brother named Nicolas Cowell, three half-brothers John, Tony and Michael Cowell and a half-sister, June Cowell. He was sent to Radlett Preparatory School.
Cowell then attended the independent Dover College that he left after taking GCE O Levels. Then after pa s sing in English Language and Literature, he attended Windsor Technical College where he earned another GCE in Sociology. When he was 17 years old he dated English model Paula Hamilton.
Cowell then decided to do basic jobs like working as a runner on Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, but as per his nature Simon did not get along with the bosses and colleagues.
Career
Cowell was given a job in the mailroom by his father who was an executive at the recording giant EMI Music Publishing. That was how Simon got immense knowledge about music.
Apart from being an English television music and talent competition judge, Cowell is also an A&R executive, television producer, and an entrepreneur. He also owns Syco, which is a television production and music publishing house.
Cowell is defiantly coc* * ned by a lot of controversy in personal as well as professional life. Time magazine enlisted Cowell as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in both 2004 and 2010.
British magazine New Statesman also listed Cowell at number 41 in the list of “The World’s 50 Most Influential Figures 2010”.in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time, TV Guide named Simon at number 10.
Simon’s first role as a judge was on British Television music competition, Pop Idol. Then in 2002, Simon yet again became a judge, on the first season of American singing Competition series, American Idol.
Most of us still remember Simon for his signature phrase, “I don’t mean to be rude, but…” which was followed by brutal comments. Simon started appearing on many talent competitions like world Idol in 2003 from where it seemed that every talent show wanted Simon mostly for his controversial yet interesting comments.
Cowell was placed number 33 on Channel 4’s list of all time 100 Worst Britons. Simon’s record label signed the top two finalists of the First season of Pop Idol, Will Young, and Gareth Gates.
Later both of their songs became number 1 UK hits. In 2004, Simon appeared on Who wants to be a Millionaire and Saturday Night Live. In 2004, Simon’s idea, the internationally successful operatic pop group II Divo was put into action.
Cowell formed a child version called Angelis, beating competition from comparable age groups budding at Christmas of 2006.In the same year, Simon became the executive producer of America’s Got Talent which debuted in June. the show was instantly a huge achievement, drawing 12 million views per week.
Cowell’s competition show called American Inventor debuted on ABC on 16 March 2006. Simon also became an executive producer for Celebrity Duets and Grease Is the World. In 2008 Simon collaborated with UK’s production company, Shed Media to produce ITV drama series Rock Rivals. The in 2011, Simon went on to create his first ever game show, “Red or Black?”.
Cowell was also a judge on the first series of British television music competition The X Factor that he initiated using his production company, Syco. Simon signed Leona Lewis who was the winner of the third series of The X Factor, in his label Syco.
Cowell left in 2011 after series 7 so as to initiate The X Factor in America. Simon also signed the boy band, One Direction to his label on 2011 after they came third in the seventh series.
On September 2011, Cowell launched The X Factor USA on American broadcaster, Fox. Melanie Amaro who was Simon’s act, won the season thus making Simon the winning judge.
On September 2013, Simon returned for a third and final season of The X Factor. Simon’s yet another act, Alex, and Sierra won the season making Simon the winning mentor again.
On February 2014, it was officially confirmed that Simon would return to The UK version of The X Factor which caused the cancellation of the US Version after three seasons by Fox. Simon signed a three-year-long contract with ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor in October 2010.
Later on 15 November 2013, Simon extended the contract by three years. In 2013, Simon went into partnership with YouTube to launch a video-sharing competition called The You Generation.
And in the same year, Simon became an executive producer for ITV’s cookery series Food Glorious Food. In December 2013, Simon published his autobiography named I Don’t Mean to Be Rude, but… which talked about his child wood and his experience in the many TV talents shows that he has been a judge on.
Net Worth and Charity
His current net worth is $550 million, as cited by The Richest. He has ama s sed a huge amount of net worth from his three-decades-long career. He has earned annually $95 million since 2012.
His company Syco Entertainment is over than $405 million which is responsible for managing a multitude of TV shows like The X Factor, American Idol and Britain’s Got Talent.
Cowell was estimated by the Sunday Time Rich List of 2011 of having a fortune of pound 200 million and was enlisted number sixth in the richest person in the British music industry list.
Simon Cowell has a $24.3 million house in Pacific Ocean, California. The lavish mansion features a swimming pool, spa and a private tennis court set in the grounds. He has a collection of lavishes motors:
Tesla Car- cost- $67668
Cla s sic Jaguar E-type- cost- $87965
Vespa- cost- ($3699-$5099)
Bentley Azure- cost- $94735
Smart car- price- $22485-$30K
With a huge salary, Cowell has definitely succeeded in fulfilling his responsibilities towards the world by doing a lot of charitable work. His work includes supporting children from The Association Of Children’s Hospices, and animal rights.
Personal Life and Affairs
Cowell has also appeared in a video for PETA. He is the most respected for his charity single Everybody Hurts in aid of victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake and his service in the music industry.
In October 2013, Simon took part in Los Angeles fundraiser for the support of the Israeli Defense Forces which raised $20 million and Simon alone contributed $150000.
Cowell’s girlfriend Lauren Silverman was engaged to Andrew Silverman with whom she had a baby but on July 2013, Andrew filed for an at-fault divorce in New York for extramarital sex by his wife and named Simon as a co-respondent.
In no time the entire thing became public and also that Simon and Lauren were expecting a baby. Later in August 2013, the divorce was settled out-of-court. On February 2014, Lauren gave birth to a baby boy whom they named Eric.