1. E x E c u t i v E l i f E s t y l E
www.execdigital.com February 2011
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Simon Cowell
The Mean Brit and the empire he’s built
4. celebrity execs simon
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.
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5. n cowell page 15
N COWELL has risen to “ALTHOuGH
t and most recognizable OCCASIONALLy
sic mogul turned media CRuEL, uSuALLy
of international pop culture CRITICAL AND
ntertainment arena. ALWAyS CANDID,
merican and British reality WHEN THE WORLD’S
a huge global outreach; his BEST-KNOWN
ot talent’ are now TELEVISION
the world. As a TALENT
production and music JuDGE TALKS,
ng artists he PEOPLE
LISTEN.”
wards
ough
n the
FEBRUARY 2011
6. celebrity execs simon
GALS:
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
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7. n cowell 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-off-
again 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
8. celebrity execs simon
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 hot-
shot’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 eighteen-
foot-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
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9. n cowell page 19
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
10. celebrity execs simon
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
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11. n cowell page 21
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
12. celebrity execs simon
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
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13. n cowell page 23
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 Lloyd-
Webber, ‘Formula 1’ team-boss Eddie
Jordan and the head of Universal Music, Lucian Grainge.
Also on the island, Simon keeps a £35-million super-
yacht, 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
14. celebrity execs simon
NOW:
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.
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