Although the world wasn't officially introduced to the ultimate talent show bully until the "American Idol" debut season in 2002, in fact Simon Cowell's net worth has been growing rapidly for a big number of years, as he's a noted music and television producer.
As British audiences know, it wasn't really "American Idol" that jumpstarted Cowell's career and therefore made Simon Cowell's net worth rise stratospherically, as there was one original United Kingdom show before the one that made Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson into superstars, as it was really "Pop Idol" that really jumpstarted Cowell's public persona.
Of course, after making a name for himself worldwide on "American Idol," the producer went on to do other things, notably remaining as a judge for another wildly popular talent show, "The X-Factor" in his native UK, where Simon Cowell's net worth would go on to grow even further, as he would sign some of the talent on the show - most notoriously, the biggest boy band in the past decade, One Direction.
MTV reports that, while Simon Cowell's net worth keeps growing from the band's wild success even after the departure of member Zayn Malik, the judge and producer himself has said that the recent announcement that the band was taking a break was "the world's worst-kept secret," as he'd already warned that'd be happening a few months back, as the band recovers from the stressful past few months.
In any case, it's been a path of success leading to the incredibly high Simon Cowell net worth these days, as the famous host and owner of Syco Records has signed other artists such as popular girl band Little Mix and past successes such as Westlife among many others since the company's inception in 2002.
Currently, Simon Cowell's net worth stands at an astonishing $550 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, and he's making about $95 million a year - so he'll be a billionaire in just a few more years, perhaps even before he reaches 60!
