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The future looks rosy for Simon
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Simon Cowell might already be the man with the golden touch, but it seems the future is about to get a little bit more shiny for him. Reports suggest he’s been offered a tooth-loosening $144m (£87.5m) to sign up for the next series of American Idol. Not a bad pay rise from the paltry $36m (£22m) he (high-waist) trousered last year.
The sharp-tongued mogul is currently in talks with US network Fox about the show, which has now run for eight successful seasons and has been a ratings winner, regularly dragging in more than 25 million viewers.
And if negotiating with The Cowell wasn’t already a daunting enough prospect, he’s been taking advice from his good buddy Sir Phillip Green, the squillionaire retail entrepreneur who owns Topshop and BHS.
In his new deal, Simon – whose wealth is estimated at £120m – is now looking for ownership of “Brand Cowell – everything he does, new formats and new programmes, not just the ones starring him”, according to a Green insider.
The two business chums are apparently keen to put their heads together to start a global entertainment colossus that would bestride the worlds of showbiz and fashion. The company would own all the rights to Simon’s shows.
However, not everyone on Team Cowell is pleased about the thought of the workaholic supremo adding to his to-do list. His former girlfriend Terri Seymour reckons he needs to slow down a bit as he approaches the big five-0.
“I think all his work is tiring Simon out and he’s finding it hard,” she revealed. “He’d hate me saying this but he’s not as young as he used to be. He’s got such a tough schedule and at some point one of the shows will have to give.”
Let’s hope it’s not the “Untitled Dog-Juggling Project” – scheduled to launch on 1 April 2010 – that we’ve been hearing so much about.
by Tom Murphy, Wednesday 1 July 2009
Sources: Daily Mail, Daily Star
