It’s been a rough few years for Simon Cowell -

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.

In 2014, the couple welcomed son Eric.

“Meeting Lauren and becoming a dad was the most fantastic thing to happen in my life,” Cowell told Hello Magazine.

“It’s hard when you have kids at my age but it’s amazing. When you work as hard as I do, you think, ‘What’s it all going to be for at the end?’ Then somebody like him comes along and it’s all worthwhile.”

Thanks to his shows and his sense for business, Simon has made $600 million, as per Celebrity Net Worth. However, it looks like Eric won’t inherit his father’s fortune. Why, you may wonder. Well, that’s because Simon believes his son should create fortune on his own.

“I’m going to leave my money to somebody. A charity, probably — kids and dogs. I don’t believe in passing on from one generation to another,” Simon told The Mirror and added, “Your legacy has to be that hopefully you gave enough people an opportunity, so that they could do well, and you gave them your time, taught them what you know.”

Simon and Eric have a lot in common and they enjoy spending plenty of time together. According to the proud father, they both love Scooby Doo and enjoy watching Disney movies together.

”He’s the most amazing thing that ever happened to me. I adore him,” America’s Got Talent judge said.

Eric was named after Simon’s father, Eric Selig Phillip Cowell, who passed away in 1999.