The talent shows brought Simon a different kind of audience, and his unique, often brutally honest approach has proven rather popular.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons why he’s made so much money, and we’re talking a lot of money. In fact, Simon Cowell’s been paid millions and millions of dollars over the years, with new reports highlighting just how much he made per season of American Idol.

Simon Cowell got his own job in music after he dropped out of school. His father was able to hire him as an assistant at record label EMI, where his responsibilities were to find new talent and develop artists.

Simon Cowell – net worth
Simon was transformed into a multi-millionaire in just a couple of years. The talent shows, including X Factor and America’s Got Talent, generated huge amounts of money for him, as well as other record companies, and in 2006, he landed a new deal.

Cowell remained a judge on American Idol for another five years – and this made him a great amount of money.

Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson were the three judges when American Idol premiered. It started out as an interesting project, but it quickly grew to be one of the most popular shows on television, changing many people’s lives and giving the audience world class artists.

Two of the most notable winners over the years have been Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson – in the future, many more will surely come.

Simon stayed on the show for a total of nine seasons. He also created The X Factor for both the US and UK, and founded the production companies Syco TV, Syco Film, and Syco Music.