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Simon Cowell The Mean Brit and the empire he’s built
Simon Cowell: world’s most hated, best-loved television talent cynic By Laurie Barratti
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ver the past decade, Simon become one of the worlds wealthiest reality-television personalities. Musi magnate, he has become a staple o and an unstoppable force in the en The unparalleled success of his Am talent-search competitions inspired TV-show franchise ‘X Factor’ and ‘Go being screened in 44 countries around t businessman, Simon is also the owner of Syco, the television p publishing house that produces albums of the various recordin has discovered. While his quick-witted criticism means he’s often caustic tow aspiring performers, it also means that his rare praise carries enough weight to jump-start a contestant’s entire career. Altho occasionally cruel, unusually critical and always candid, when world’s best-known television talent judge talks, people listen. Love him or hate him — or even a bit of both — there’s no denying that Simon Cowell is one of today’s sharpest observers (or, could it be, creators?) of media trends and potential pop-cultural sensations. visit us online at www.execdigital.com
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imon Cowell has risen to t and most recognizable sic mogul turned media of international pop culture ntertainment arena. merican and British reality a huge global outreach; his ot Talent’ are now the world. As a production and music ng artists he
wards
page 15 “Although occasionally cruel, usually critical and always candid, when the world’s best-known television talent judge talks, people listen.”
ough n the
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We can only assume that it’s Simon’s trademarked traits —money, vanity, cars, a trusty collection of skinny jeans and tight black T-shirts — that encourage the female entourage to endlessly surround him. Simon, a lifelong confirmed bachelor, might arguably have become Britain’s most eligible millionaire since the engagement of Prince William. But, he seems to think he has finally found “the one” in American Idol makeup artist Mezhgan Hussainy. After meeting Simon on the set and dating him for about a year, the 37-year-old Afghan-born beauty received a massive, flawless diamond ring in February 2010. Weighing in at approximately six carats, the brilliant-cut, bauble is estimated to be worth around $750,000. Still, since their engagement, he has continued to surround himself with visit us online at www.execdigital.com
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page 17 beautiful women, many of whom are ex-girlfriends. To anyone else this might come as a shock, but it seems that Mezhgan long ago accepted that Simon will always have a harem of women around him. His long time, on-again-offagain ex Sinitta (an 80’s pop singer and actress), has referred to Simon as “a horrible cheat” who seemed to be waving and smiling devilishly when he would send her off on extended gigs. Nonetheless, the two famously remain good friends (though each accuses the other of breaking their heart), with Simon acting as godfather to Sinatta and her ex-husband’s two adopted children. FEBRUARY 2011
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TOYS:
At age 51, the multi-millionaire can clearly afford the finer things in life, and is certainly not shy about splashing around the cash. Chief among his prized possessions is the fleet of luxury cars housed in this hotshot’s high-end garage. At a cost of more than $400,000 apiece, Simon splurged on not one, but three Rolls Royce Phantom Dropheads. He bought one for his time spent in L.A., a second for his home in London, and the final (in the form of a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe) just for fun. True, there aren’t many other British carmakers that are quite as prestigious as Rolls Royce when it comes to classic construction, comfort and style, but the eighteenfoot-long and six-foot-wide Coupe is no slouch either. With V12 under the bonnet, the Roller boasts a top speed of 149mph. In an interview for visit us online at www.execdigital.com
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the BBC’s popular ‘Top Gear’ television program, Simon waxed lyrical about his Rolls: “It’s the most beautiful, most comfortable, best-engineered car ever built. I can hardly bring myself to say it but it’s - oh, sod it! - perfect. During his appearance on the show, he also blitzed the BBC’s ‘Top Gear’ track in 1:47.1 — the eighth fastest time overall for the ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ segment, and the third fastest for a non-professional driver in series eight. So, Simon’s has become well-known. Given Simon’s love of speed machines, it’s no surprise that the crowning jewel in his superb supercar collection is a $1.2-million (£750,000) Bugatti Veyron — the fastest roadworthy/street-legal car in the world, and also the most expensive. With an excess of 1000 horsepower, the Veyron (built by Volkswagen) reaches a top speed of 253.81 mph (408.47 km/h). Cowell can count himself among a very exclusive crowd, as only a limited number have been manufactured. The music mogul’s other motor-toys include a black Bentley convertible and FEBRUARY 2011
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a Ferrari F430 Spyder, capable of doing 193 mph and reaching zero-to-sixty mph in just 4.1 seconds. He is also rumoured to have recently purchased a £65,000 Jaguar XK convertible for fiancée Mezghan Hussainy. DIGS:
Cowell’s $22-million modern Beverly Hills mansion, which he has called his “dream home”, includes neighbours Tom Cruise, Madonna, the Osbournes, and Victoria and David Beckham. In 2009, Simon told the London Daily Mail, “I’ve been involved in every aspect of the design of the new place, right down to the doorknobs. I have other houses, but this is my dream home.” The five-bedroom, six-bathroom mansion features a state-of-the-art gym in the basement, a luxury spa (complete with wet steam room) and visit us online at www.execdigital.com
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an indoor lap pool with adjoining solarium. The property also boasts separate staff quarters, containing a servants’ kitchen, to house his live-in butler and maid. A custom-made, hi-tech media center was built to include a private cinema room featuring a marble bar area and plush leather seating for 20. The outdoor pool cabana has a retractable roof, wet bar and changing rooms, while a putting green sits at the rear of the property, just for sport. As a further testament to his self-professed vanity (and on top of the investment sunk regularly into his beloved Botox), Simon had a private tanning salon installed — a solarium off the master bedroom, complete with one full-length tanning machine and a smaller “booster” facial tanner — in order to effortlessly maintain that FEBRUARY 2011
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perfectly bronzed appearance. Cowell’s primary residence in the U.K. is an $11-million house, located in London’s upscale Holland Park neighbourhood. He also owns another villa in Spain, and a $1.5-million investment property in Dubai, on the island visit us online at www.execdigital.com
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of Palm Jumeirah. On the Caribbean island of Barbados, construction is currently underway on Cowell’s new 13,000-square-foot vacation villa, situated directly on the sands in Paradise Beach bay and valued at £22 million (around $35 million). The prestigious Paradise Beach development is a luxurious high-end rival to the famous Sandy Lane resort, where Four Seasons is building a hotel beside the resort that will provide 24-hour service to residents for an annual charge of £18,000 (say, $28,000). There, his future neighbours include Lord Andrew LloydWebber, ‘Formula 1’ team-boss Eddie Jordan and the head of Universal Music, Lucian Grainge. Also on the island, Simon keeps a £35-million superyacht, where he spent this past New Year’s Eve bobbing about on the Caribbean seas with his fiancée and (naturally) his ex-girlfriend, Sinitta. FEBRUARY 2011
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At 51, Simon Cowell boasts a personal net worth of approximately $200 million, securing him a Top 10 ranking on The Telegraph’s list of the 100 Most Powerful People in British Culture, and a Top 30 spot as one of the Forbes Top 100 Celebrities. In 2010, he won the special honorary Founders Award at the 38th International Emmy Awards in New York for his “enormous cultural contributions” to television. Fittingly, the golden statuette was handed to him by Rupert Murdoch, creator of Fox TV and News Corporation CEO. Now, as he prepares to bring The X Factor to America in fall 2011, acting as both the show’s executive producer and top-line judge, Simon Cowell is again perfectly poised to hit TV audiences with the latest wave of his massive pop-cultural influence. visit us online at www.execdigital.com
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