Simon Cowell

With more than 300 million albums sold and 200 No. 1 records under his creative belt, British music executive Simon Cowell has enjoyed international success by combining his ability to discover superstar talent with his polarizing personality that creates not just some of the biggest global superstars of our day, but also the most memorable must-see television of our generation.

Though he'd worked as a record label executive for years, Cowell became a household name when he signed onto judge the first season of Pop Idol in the U.K. in 2001 followed by the U.S. equivalent, American Idol, in 2002. But it was his own two multi-award winning shows Britain's Got Talent and THE X FACTOR which cemented Cowell's place in music and pop culture history forever with both the Got Talent and THE X FACTOR format becoming some of the biggest selling and most successful TV exports worldwide. Through his own recording and production companies, including the global music/TV/film company Syco Entertainment, Cowell has been responsible for the chart-topping careers of a vast array of artists including One Direction, Leona Lewis, Il Divo, Susan Boyle, Cher Lloyd, Rebecca Ferguson, Labrinth and numerous others. Cowell's shows have launched more internationally successful music careers than any other with THE X FACTOR artists globally selling over 100 million records and achieving 250 number ones, 270 Top 10, and 501 Top 50 hit records.

In 2009, Cowell was named No. 1 in The Hollywood Reporter's Top 50 Most Powerful in Reality TV and Entertainment Weekly's Top Entertainer of the Year. In 2010, he was awarded Variety International's Humanitarian Award for his extensive charitable work, The Rose d'Or Golden Jubilee Award, and BAFTA's Special Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the entertainment industry and development of new talent. He also appeared on Time magazine's list of Most Influential People in the World and was awarded the International Emmy Founders Award.

Cowell is ready to unleash his unrelenting brand of witty sarcasm and musical wisdom onto a whole new crop of fresh faces for Season 2 of THE X FACTOR, which is owned and produced by his own Syco Television, alongside fellow judges L.A. Reid, Britney Spears, and Demi Lovato.