The £ Factor: Cowell TV hits help him climb up the rich list... and Cheryl hasn't done badly either

He has threatened to quit Britain’s Got Talent because it takes up too much of his time.

But Simon Cowell may change his mind after seeing what his reality TV roles have done for his bank balance.


The music mogul’s wealth has rocketed by £45million in a year after winning back the rights to his hit shows, including Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor.

Cowell, 50, now has a fortune of £ 165million – and his is not the only X Factor success story to be revealed by this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.

His co-star, Cheryl Cole, 26, has seen her wealth increase by 150 per cent over the last year, buoyed by the £1.2million she pocketed for the last series of the talent show.



She has also signed deals worth £500,000 each with L’Oreal and Coca-Cola Zero, and seen her debut solo album, 3 Words, go to number one – all of which has helped take her fortune from £ 4million to £10million.

David and Victoria Beckham have seen their wealth jump by 16 per cent, from £125million to £145million, in part thanks to the success of Mrs Beckham’s clothing designs.

Cowell has earned a staggering £ 86million from his television work in the last two years alone, according to American financial bible Forbes.

He has jumped 40 places in the Rich List to become the 398th wealthiest man in Britain – and he will next week announce another three-year, £20million deal with ITV.


In January, he also signed a six-year deal with Sony BMG that will earn him millions more, starting with the U.S. launch of The X Factor in 2011. In the process, he took back the rights to his hit reality TV shows, which Sony bought in 1995.

The deal means that Cowell’s music label, Syco, will move out from under the Sony BMG umbrella and stand alone – helped by a roster of singing stars found through his television contests, including Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle.

However, Cowell has not managed to beat old sparring partner Simon Fuller, the mastermind behind the Spice Girls, Brand Beckham and American Idol.

Fuller, 49, has seen his fortune increase from £300million to £350million – putting him at number six in the Sunday Times British Music Millionaires Chart, while Cowell takes 11th place.

But both of the rivals’ riches are dwarfed by Edgar Bronfman, the chairman and chief executive of the Warner Music Group, who went straight to the top of the music millionaires’ list with a fortune of £1.64billion.

Bronfman is ranked at 25th overall in the 2010 list of the 1,000 richest people in Britain, after moving from New York to London so that his children could experience life abroad.

He has pushed former Zomba record company owner Clive Calder into second place in the music wealth chart.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has slipped from number two to number three in the music rich list, with his fortune falling by 17 per cent from £750million to £700million.

Theatre impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh comes in at number four, and has seen his fortune rise by more than 80 per cent in 12 months to £635million.

After a successful year, the fortune of Sir Cliff Richard has also returned to its pre-credit crunch level of £50million. However-Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood faced a less rosy 12 months, including divorce from his wife Jo, and has dropped out of the music millionaires list.

Meanwhile, singers Charlotte Church, Katherine Jenkins and Leona Lewis, each worth £11million, head the 2010 chart of Young Rich List Music Millionaires aged 30 and under.

And for the first time, all the members of Girls Aloud have made the under-30s list, with Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Sarah Harding and Kimberley Walsh said to be worth £5million each.

Other new entrants, each worth £5million, are Lily Allen, James Morrison, Paolo Nutini and Amy Winehouse.

The 22nd annual Sunday Times Rich List – the definitive guide to wealth in Britain and Ireland – profiles the 1,000 richest people in the UK and the wealthiest 250 in Ireland.

It is based on identifiable wealth, such as land, property and assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies. It excludes bank accounts.

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