Simon Phillip Cowell is an English television personality, entrepreneur, and record executive. He has judged on the British television talent competition series Pop Idol, The X Factor UK and Britain's Got Talent, and the American television talent competition series American Idol, The X Factor US, and America's Got Talent. Cowell is the founder and sole owner of the British entertainment company Syco. After some success in the 1980s and 1990s as a record producer, talent scout and consultant in the UK music industry, Cowell came to public prominence in 2001 as a judge on Pop Idol, a show which he and its creator Simon Fuller successfully pitched to ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz. He subsequently created The X Factor and Got Talent franchises which have been sold around the world. In 2004 and 2010, Time named Cowell one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
A judge on American Idol, Britain's Got Talent, and The X Factor, as well as a television producer, executive, and talent manager. He also worked as the CEO of the entertainment company Syco and produced America's Got Talent.
