Music mogul Simon Cowell has opened up about ‘always worrying’ about money due to the world being ‘so precarious’ and has revealed what he plans to do with his fortune
Since his days on Pop Idol in the early noughties, Simon Cowell has become one of the most familiar faces in showbiz. Having started his career in the entertainment industry as a mail room clerk for EMI Music Publishing, the music mogul climbed his way up the corporate ladder before forming his own record label, S Records.
“I was fearless because I had nothing to lose,” he told MailOnline. “I irritated the hell out of everyone in the music business because I was this jumped-up arrogant kid who absolutely believed in myself.”
Having helped propel countless musicians into the spotlight, during his thirties, Simon, now 65, moved into the world of TV, starting out on Pop Idol.
After rising to fame, Simon became a household name and later created talent shows including The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. In turn, he has played a hand in breaking artists including One Direction, Leona Lewis and Little Mix.
READ MORE: Simon Cowell says he ‘always worries about money’ despite £300million net worth
As a result of his successes, it’s been reported that the music mogul has a net worth of £492 million. However, Simon has said he’s not worth anywhere near as much. “Oh God, it’s not that. I’m not even close to that. I’m being serious. I’m not. I’ve made a lot, I’m not going to lie. I’ve made a bit of money, yes, but not that much, no,” he told Elizabeth Day on her How To Fail podcast.
Despite his wealth, Simon added that he worries about finances due to the world being “so precarious”. Speaking to Elizabeth, he opened up on how he put his shows into production prior to the Covid lockdown out of fear the projects would be put on hold. “I always worry about money because I think you have to in a way,” he said.
Back in 2011, the TV personality spoke to GQ about his fortune and revealed that he’d leave “the whole lot to charity” when asked what he’d do with his money. “You can enjoy it while you’ve got it, and then it’s gone to good causes afterwards,” he explained, before adding that he’d picked out charities relating to children and animals.
He elaborated: “One of the good things about making money is that you can help other people. It feels good when you do it. I like doing it.”
Meanwhile, speaking to MailOnline in 2015, after the birth of his son Eric, Simon voiced similar opinions. “I don’t like the idea that you just sort of pass it down from generation to generation and it just gets bigger. I mean, I find that actually quite disgusting,” he said.
He continued: “As a father, I want my son to be OK, but you know no one ever gave me a penny and I believe part of my drive was to do with the fact I had nothing to lose. That gives you a lot of energy.”
In recent years, Simon has continued to work as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent alongside Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli. With The X Factor coming to an end in 2018 after 14 years on our TV screens, Simon spoke to The Sun about what he’d do differently with the show.
“It’s a tricky one but there are hundreds of people who still want to be pop stars. We’d have to go back to basics. The other thing we did with the show was to keep tinkering with it, adding new formats,” he said.
“When we first started the show it was very simple with unique elements. I’d argue you can’t make a better music show than that.”
He also recently launched a quest to find the next big new boy band. “I have no idea how this is going to end because until we find the band that’s sort of it but there is something I’m going to do in the middle which I’ve never done before which I’ll tell you about later,” he said on This Morning back in July 2024.
Alison added: “I think you’ll put them in a house together.” Simon replied: “It’s kind of close to that but something different which I’ve never done before. I think 1D [One Direction] it was always about friendship and Spice Girls, and the determination to be success.”
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