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Born on October 7, 1959 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, his father a music industry executive, and his mother, Julie Brett, is a former ballet dancer and socialite
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Simon worked his way up to a music publishing position, until the early 1980s when he left to form his own recording label, E&S Music with former boss Ellis Rich.
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he has 2 nieces and a nephew, namely: Tanyette Chantel (born October 18, 1981), Melissa Lee (born July 10, 1984), and Joshua Aaron, (born April 15, 1986) all 3 of whom have appeared in the audience during various episodes of Pop Idol Season 1.
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E&S Music had several hit records, attaining five singles on the UK top 40. Simon stayed on a few years and left by mutual agreement to pursue other ventures.
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Made his screen debut in 1990, on the UK TV series 'Sale of the Century', his prize for winning - Kitchen Utensils.
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Simon went to work for Iain Burton at Fanfare records, and over the next eight years, he found success in the music industry.
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In 1992, Fanfare’s parent company, Public Company fell into financial problems. Later that year, BMG bought Fanfare’s assets.
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Turned down the chance to manage Take That, who went on to become one of the major boy bands of the 1990s.
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Simon, in debt, moved back in with his parents. Later that year, he became an A&R consultant for BMG records. He signed up a number of successful acts to his S-records label and in 2002 he formed SyCo Records, Artists such as Leona Lewis, Il Divo and contestants from The X Factor and America’s Got Talent are released on SyCo.
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In 2007, he earned an estimated $72 million in income from his various projects. $45 million from "American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" (2002), $15 million from "Britain's Got Talent" (2007) and "The X Factor" (2004), and $12 million from his record label.
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Ranked #6 in the 2008 Telegraph's list "the 100 most powerful people in British culture".
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A TV commercial proposal was made to him by his agent who told him that he would be paid $1m for a day's work (the good news). When Cowell asked about the bad news, he was informed that the commercial was for "Viagra". Cowell reneged (interview: "Piers Morgan Tonight: Episode dated 5 April 2011"
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Has said he finds Britney Spears to be fascinating and wants her to be a part of "The X Factor" (2011).
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Merited a place in Time magazine's - The 100 Most Influential People in the World ("Artists" category) - with a tribute provided by Nick Cannon. [May 10, 2010]
