He's the man who makes pop star wannabes' dreams come true, but there's no denying Simon Cowell has a touch of the X factor himself after he won a golden handcuffs deal worth £20 million to continue fronting his talent show on ITV for the next three years.
The music mogul's earnings now put him ahead of film critic and chat show host Jonathon Ross who is the BBC's highest paid star with an £18 million contract until 2010. Simon, 47, who began his career as a post-room boy at EMI music, is already estimated to be worth £50 million, but it is believed this figure could double in the next few years.
The X Factor has been a phenomenal success for its creator and most critical judge, pulling in just under 13 million viewers for last weekend's nail-biting final between Leona Lewis and Ray Quinn. Liverpudlian sensation Leona, who won the series and a record deal with Simon's music label, is expected to reach number one in the charts with her Christmas single A Moment Like This.
Downloaded copies have already reached 200,000, and Simon will be entitled to a large chunk of royalties from the romantic ballad, a song which made his other protégé - American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson - world famous.
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