Simon Cowell rose from obscurity to prominence as an employee at a record label. The British TV producer and celebrity judge has amassed a considerable fortune over the course of his career.
Simon found a new audience through the talent contests because to his refreshingly honest performances.
Perhaps that’s why he’s been able to amass such a massive fortune. New revelations detail how much Simon Cowell was paid per season of American Idol, revealing that he has been paid tens of millions of dollars over the years.
After leaving school, Simon Cowell found success in the music industry on his own.
His father’s connections at EMI helped him land a job there as an assistant responsible for discovering and nurturing fresh musical talent.
Simon Cowell – rise to fame
Following his rise through the ranks at EMI, he launched not one but two unsuccessful record labels.
Moving back in with his parents was enough to break most people, but he persevered. For Simon Cowell, though, it was a “relief”.
“Everything went – my house, my Porsche, all the things I thought were important,” he explained. “I had nice food every night at home. I was quite happy, really.”
Cowell rebooted and established S Records, signing boy acts like 5ive and Westlife.
In 1995, he signed Jerome, who had success with his cover of Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers. That ended up becoming a really successful single.
But, Simon’s own path to stardom was paved by his participation in talent shows.
“My talent is for creating things the public will like,” he explained. “I’m interested only in making money, for myself, and the people I work for. I mean, that’s absolutely the only criterion I attach.”
Talent show success
In 2001, the entertainment industry welcomed a brand new player.
Simon Cowell co-created the show Pop Idol alongside Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, and he served as a judge on the show.
Viewership for the show skyrocketed, and Simon quickly rose to superstardom.
His “I don’t mean to be rude but” T-shirt and catchphrase are now household staples.
Fox picked up the series only a year after it premiered. Now it was on its way to the United States, where Simon had suddenly become a household name.
Simon soon saw the enormous financial potential of the show during the first season finale, which included Kelly Clarkson’s victory, and garnered more than 26 million people.
Simon Fuller, the show’s owner and executive producer, also acts as the winners’ manager, thus he made the decision to release a series of recordings with an American Idol theme.
Simon Cowell – net worth
In the span of three years, Simon went from a middle-class worker to a multimillionaire.
He and other record labels made a ton of money through his appearances on talent shows like X Factor and America’s Got Talent, leading to a new recording contract in 2006.
Cowell continued to reap enormous financial rewards from his role as a judge on American Idol for another five seasons.
Originally, American Idol’s judging panel consisted of Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson.
It was initially an intriguing venture that went on to become one of the most watched shows on television, influencing the careers of countless artists and inspiring a generation.
Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson are two of the more famous past winners, and there will be many more in the future.
Simon appeared in all nine seasons of the show. He also established the production businesses Syco TV, Syco Film, and Syco Music and came up with the idea for the American and British versions of The X Factor.
In a single year, he made $36 million
Cowell judged both the American and British versions of “The X Factor.” At the same time, he served as both a judge and executive producer on the American and British versions of the talent show.
He served as a judge on numerous shows, but one thing never changed.
His demeanor was consistently raw and sometimes unpleasant. On the other hand, he had no trouble shedding a tear over a work of art.
Simon has been observed chuckling during comedic auditions, and he has similarly been able to laugh all the way to the bank.
Simon Cowell reportedly made $36 million in 2008, according to CNN. In 2017, the media magnate made $45 million, and in 2016, he made $41 million, according to Celebritynetworth.com. Simon Cowell made almost $50 million in 2020.
Simon Cowell’s entire wealth is estimated to be $600 million. Each year, he gives a portion of his wealth to charity. His $1.5 million donation to Feeding America and Feeding Britain during the COVID-19 outbreak was a huge help.
Simon Cowell – botox injections
With this sum of money, the sky’s the limit. Cowell has invested heavily in changing his appearance and living arrangements in Malibu, California, a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles.
The media mogul, for instance, has had several facial injections and Botox over the course of several years. Hello Magazine claims he was one of the first male TV stars to openly discuss his use of Botox.
The Sun reported in 2018 that Cowell had a “sewing bioplastic-infused thread” facelift performed without surgery.
“There’s lots of things you can do now. You don’t just have to stuff your face with filler and Botox,” Cowell said, as quoted by Hello.
“It hurts like hell but it gets rid of sun damage and unplugs all the crap.” “For me now, it’s all about having clean skin. If you have clean skin, you look better. But you have to be very careful with some of this stuff.”
“Probably did a little too much”
Cowell noted that the use of Botox “added 10 years” to his already prosperous television career. But he recognizes that he may have overstepped his bounds.
“Hopefully I look better now — I probably did have a little too much Botox a couple of years ago, because everyone on TV has it,” he said.
“Now I have facials, but nothing too extravagant at the moment. I have a girl who comes here and does a great face massage — it’s very relaxing. I also had a sheep placenta facial once, which was quite out there.”
Simon has become a family guy in recent years, despite his dedication to his many businesses.
He and his longtime girlfriend, Lauren Silverman, welcomed their first child in 2013. They had their first child, Eric, on February 14th, 2014.
“Meeting Lauren and becoming a dad was the most fantastic thing to happen in my life,” Cowell, then 54 years old, said.
Simon Cowell – hospital visit
The Cowells are living the good life, but Simon has been dealing with a number of health issues.
In October of 2017, he fainted and fell down the stairs, sending him to the hospital.
His spokesperson called it “a scary morning,” and it turned out that low blood pressure was to blame for the fall.
After the incident, he went to the doctor, who advised him to eliminate red meat, wheat, dairy, gluten, and sugar from his diet.
“I’m thinking, what about alcohol? That’s all I care about,” Cowell recalled in an interview with Extra. “And he said, ‘Maybe not quite as much as you had before’.”
For the past few years, Simon Cowell’s health has taken a miraculous turn for the better. And the end product is spectacular.
Major health recovery
Simon managed to shed 56 pounds in a year. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown have not provided him with an opportunity to start binge eating again.
“I think I have dropped, since I started this diet a year ago, 60 pounds. I’m doing a bit of cooking. I’m exercising,” he told Extra, according to Hello Magazine. “Funny enough, more during this time as well, sticking to the diet.”
Nevertheless, Simon had another major mishap last year when he was riding his electric bike in the courtyard of his Malibu, California, house. He had to go to the hospital to get his fractured back fixed.
After the six-hour operation, during which a metal rod was implanted, Cowell was “doing” fine. The outcome easily could have been much worse.
Because of this, he had to miss the premiere of the previous season’s America’s Got Talent live show.
Bike accident in Malibu home
“Some good advice… If you buy an electric trail bike, read the manual before you ride it for the first time,” Cowell wrote on Twitter, thanking fans and friends for their “kind messages.”
His words may have been soothing to his audience, but things weren’t as hopeful as they seemed.
Cowell told ExtraTV that the X-ray completely startled him.
“I knew I’d broken my back the minute I landed. It was really, really kind of sudden and it hurt,” he said. “It could have been a lot worse. When I saw the X-ray, I really nearly could have smashed my spine to pieces, so I literally wouldn’t have been able to walk.”
He knew he wasn’t supposed to get up from lying down, as instructed by the doctors. But Cowell went in the opposite direction.
“I was so embarrassed”
A source told People that just two days after surgery, he was out and about.
“I was thinking, ‘I’ve got to get back into the house because I can’t lie there’, and made myself kind of get carried into my bedroom, which is right there at the beginning of the house, and I’m lying there and I’m kind of passing out … It was surreal,” he said.
Simon Cowell and his son Eric were rumored to have been out on an electric bike ride. He found it particularly humiliating to have to heal from the injury at home in front of his son.
“I was so embarrassed about coming home looking about 100 because I couldn’t walk, and I have these metal rods in my back and these screws,” Cowell explained.
“I said, ‘Lauren, I just don’t know how to explain it to Eric.’ She obviously said something to him because he came in and I was lying in bed and he said, ‘Daddy, you’re like Ironman,’ and I thought that was the sweetest thing and it meant a lot.”
It has taken some time for us to recover from the accident. But, it has also demonstrated to everyone that Cowell is extremely focused on getting his life back to normal by any means necessary.