Simon Cowell has to be one of the most famous names in the music industry. Thanks to his talent and sense for business, he made millions over the years.

Had it not been for this man and his reality shows involving discovering music talents, we would have probably never heard of One Direction or Kelly Clarkson.

Simon started his career as a music producer, consultant, and scout during the 80’s, but came to public prominence in 2001 as a judge on Pop Idol. The show was a huge success, so Simon went a step further and created The X Factor and Got Talent franchises which are extremely popular in a huge number of countries throughout the world.

He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the entire world two times, in 2004 and 2010.

Over the few couple of years, the business mogul went through so much. He suffered two accidents. First, he fell off the stairs and then he injured his back severely following an electric scooter accident.

Following the scare which left him injured and forced him to undergo back surgery, the musician and producer tried to warn others of the dangers of electric bikes. “The one I had was basically a motorcycle with an electric engine when you have to wear a proper crash helmet, leathers. This thing was nuts,” he said. “I didn’t know how powerful it was before I got on it. And I fly 6-8 feet in the air and landed on my spine.”

When it comes to his personal life, what we know of this incredible man of many talents is that he is a great supporter of different charities and is a huge animal lover. Since 2013, Simon has been together with long-time girlfriend and the mother to his son, Lauren Silverman. When the world learned the two were dating, the news caused a stir because they allegedly started an affair while Lauren was still married to former husband Andrew Silverman who happened to be one of Simon’s closest friends.