Simon Cowell

The Ground Floor

Cowell has interests in film, music and television, and sabotages a list of interviews for "boring" jobs (law clerk, supermarket manager trainee, building surveyor) set up by his real estate executive father Eric. However, Cowell eventually lands a job that suits his interests, working as a runner for producers at Elstree Studios. After turning down an offer to work on the set of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, Cowell takes a gig in the mailroom of EMI Music Publishing, where his father manages the property division. "From my first day on the job I began planning and scheming my way to the top of the business," Cowell writes in his memoir.

An Impresario

After years of moving up the music-industry ladder to become a producer and A&R (artist and repertoire) man, Cowell strikes out on his own by setting up Fanfare Records. He signs his then-girlfriend Sinitta and scores the smash hits "So Macho" and "Toyboy." He also releases the Power Rangers theme single, and later fails to land the Spice Girls.

Starting Over

Fanfare folds and Cowell is forced to move back in with his parents. He will later tell BusinessWeek that it was "the best thing that happened in my life, because I learned the value of money." The motivated businessman soon joins BMG as an A&R consultant.

October 05

Pop Goes Simon

Music impresario Simon Fuller creates a talent show called Pop Idol for British TV and has Cowell (along with three others) judge the abilities of contestants who hope to sing their way to stardom. Cowell's brutal honesty makes its first television appearance. "Let me throw a mathematical dilemma at you," he tells a contestant, "there's 500 left. Well, how come the odds of you winning are a million to one?"

November 07

Scary Simon

Cowell spoofs his tell-it-like-it-is American Idol persona in Scary Movie 3 as a judge in an 8 Mile-type rap challenge.

December

Four Play

After a two-year search, Cowell finds the right combination for a quartet he develops for the Sony label. Il Divo is comprised of American tenor David Miller, French vocalist Sebastien Izambard, Swiss tenor Urs Buhler and Spanish baritone Carlos Marin. The pop-opera singing group goes on to release a self-titled debut CD in April 2005 and will later tour with Barbra Streisand.