Simon Cowell is a legend in the music industry: his opinions are highly respected, he has proven time and again that he knows how to find musicians who will succeed, and he understands what audiences want to see. But when Cowell first started, his career was not an instant financial success. It took hard work and determination, including facing loss and starting over.
Simon Cowell Discusses Bankruptcy
GettyThe former “American Idol” judge and “America’s Got Talent” judge opened up about his financial struggle and bankruptcy in an interview on the “How to Fail with Elizabeth Day” podcast on Monday, January 5, Us Weekly reports. “I had started a label with about £4,000 or £5,000, and someone had backed me financially. The guy who backed me … his company was bought by another company or something — I can’t remember — and that company went bust,” Cowell recalled. “I was in debt.”
He continued, “I was, I mean literally, bankrupt. I owed the bank about, I think, £250,000 pounds. My house, I think, when I sold it, I still owed about 70 grand on the mortgage.” He had to get rid of everything and relied on his parents for financial support, and with just some spare change in his pocket, he had to make his way to their home in London.
“I had to get from my old house to their apartment, and I had just about £5. I kind of worked out, will the £5 get me in a cab to my mom and dad’s? And that was it,” he shared of how broke he was.
Simon Cowell Built Himself up Again
Financially, Cowell may have lost everything, but he was fortunately not alone and could rely on those closest to him for help. He praised his parents for being “brilliant” and for using what happened as a way for him to learn and grow. He described how his parents saw it as a way for him to have “learned a lesson.”
Cowell’s parents provided him with the help he needed, and then he was ready to start again. “I found, then, a bank manager, who lent me some money to pay back the other bank over time,” he said. “I just, in a weird way, kind of got lucky with it.”
Cowell was doing well in his career, but his bank balance did not reflect it. “I had success but just didn’t have any money,” he said. “Everything became real at that point, and I really learned a lesson about don’t borrow money. Just live with what you have and just be happy with that.”
