Cowell’s judging presence on ‘American Idol’ has made him megabucks across the board – he’s a producer on the show, he gets a paycheque for being a panel judge, the sponsorship deals line his pocket and he gets to cherry pick the hot new talent on the show and sign them onto his own record label.

If he manages to transfer his hit X Factor show over to the States like he did with ‘Pop Idol’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, the figure will undoubtedly grow even further.