Originally from Brighton, England, Cowell realized early in life that he loved making money. Whether it was washing windows or mowing lawns, Cowell couldn’t get enough. Nor could he keep it in his pocket. His father, Eric Cowell, a quality surveyor who made his money in property, always told his son to earn his own way. Cowell also learned that he wasn’t much for school. He was mannered and knew the difference between right and wrong, but he never received good grades. At 16, Cowell left school to forge his way in the world, much to the dismay of his teachers.

Cowell worked a series of menial jobs, one as a waiter at the ABC restaurant in Windsor and another at a hi-fi shop, but his first real entry into entertainment came at 17 as a runner on the set of “The Return of the Saint” at the Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. Cowell moved on to an errand job in the post room at music giant EMI, where the hours were long, the pay minimal and the abuse from his superiors incessant. But he was glad to have a job that had opportunities.

However, Cowell’s lack of money finally got to him. His younger brother, Nicholas, was earning much more as an estate agent—he even had a flashy car. So Cowell also got a job as an estate agent, but for some reason was immediately hated by his boss. That was fine with Cowell, because the feeling was mutual. Cowell’s luck soon changed, however, after a call between Cowell's father and EMI boss Ron White which led to a good paying job at the record company as a song plugger. Once again, Cowell ran into animosity from coworkers: they felt the only reason he got the job was because of his dad.

True to form, Cowell didn’t much care, as he excelled in his new career. At 26, Cowell made his first hit record, “So Macho”, by Sinitta. It was a smash, making it all the way to #2 on the charts and selling over a million copies. Success, however, was fleeting: at 28, he had money, a nice home and a Porsche, but at 30--after sinking money into losers on the stock market--Cowell had 3 pounds to his name, forcing him to move back in with his parents. Luckily, he was approached by BMG to set up his own music label. Cowell first began producing records for television shows, including the WWF, Power Rangers and Teletubbies, and also signed and managed several popular music acts, including Westlife and the Spice Girls.

It wasn’t until he saw the success of the British series “Popstars”--which attempted to turn unknown, aspiring singers into overnight sensations--that Cowell became interested in doing a television series. Cowell and his partner, Simon Fuller, took the idea of creating a pop star further by allowing the audience to choose who they wanted, thus the British series “Pop Idols” (2001-2002) was born and became an instant hit. The cruel barbs Cowell hurled at the contestants, for better or worse, turned the unknown, but successful music manager into the judge you loved to hate, a household name and a television personality of the highest order. The series was such a hit that Fox imported the show to the United States.

In 2002, the revamped American version, “American Idol”, made its first appearance on the Fox network, where Cowell was the only imported judge from the original series who, alongside pop diva Paula Abdul and Grammy Award-winning producer Randy Jackson, presided over a seemingly endless stream of god-awful singers in order to find that diamond in the rough--and jibes aside, Cowell had a vested interest in finding a genuine star performer, as he was signing the winner to a recording contract with his company (he also took some of the runners-up under his wing). In season one, the champion was Kelly Clarkson--whose first single and subsequent debut album Thankful sold incredibly after a long delay, turning out better than most expected; and in season two, portly Ruben Studdard, a choir singer from Birmingham, Alabama, won the competition, though his runner-up Clay Aiken initially surpassed him in record sales. Oddly enough, however, it would be the ever imperious and unapologetic Cowell--through his ever-snarky analyses, his pot-shots at Abdul's inability to be critical and his bickering banter with twerpy host Ryan Seacrest--who would be the series' true breakout personality.