Simon Cowell

Before the Pop Idol franchise made him one of the most recognizable faces on television, Simon Cowell enjoyed a lucrative career as an A&R executive, television producer, label owner, record producer, and -- in his first job ever -- a mailroom clerk at EMI Records. Born in 1959, he was raised in a well-to-do British household by his mother (a former dancer), his father (an industry exec at EMI), and a slew of nannies, none of whom were able to curb Cowell's penchant for underage drinking and smoking. Attending several notable boarding schools turned out to be fruitless, as Cow...