Has Simon Cowell been trumped by the 'other' Simon yet again? Simon Fuller's company, 19 Entertainment, has just taken a controlling stake in the Storm model agency in a move that consolidates the pop impresario's position as the world's leading talent manager, straddling music, sport and fashion.
Fuller, 49, has twice left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry, says The Observer: first with the Spice Girls, and then with Pop Idol "the most successful franchise in TV history". Only the Oscars and the Super Bowl attracted more viewers than the 2007 final of American Idol and Fuller's net worth is calculated at some £450m, "good going for a headmaster's son from Hastings".
As a result, the "softly spoken" Fuller certainly does not suffer from false modesty. "I understand popular entertainment better than anyone," he proclaims. Critics perceive him as a "sinister svengali... a perma-tanned puppet master who peddles lowest common denominator fare". Singer Amy Winehouse once described him as "practically shining... that's how plasticky he is".
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"It would be great to be able to say Simon was this Machiavellian monster, but he was just very likeable," says a former school friend. Fuller began his career as a sixth-former, staging gigs on Hastings Pier. In the early 1980s, he joined Chrysalis, branching out on his own at 25 to score an unlikely number one hit with Paul Hardcastle's 19, now the title of his company. And while he may not have discovered the Spice Girls, says The Observer, he turned the group into a brand. After being ousted in 1997, he then repeated the trick with S Club 7. From there, it was a short step to launching Pop Idol in the UK in 2001 and American Idol the following year.
Fuller's great inspiration was "the fifth Beatle", Brian Epstein. Yet he has long since eclipsed him in terms of record sales, says Billboard. In the process, he has enriched his stars, notably 'Brand Beckham' (now worth a joint £125m). He helped turn David into a global sex symbol and when Victoria's recording career hit the rocks, he engineered her transformation into a fashion designer. That was thanks to another big name he "looks after": the photogenic French designer Roland Mouret, originator of the "superstar" Galaxy frock.
Signing Mouret was Fuller's first move into fashion and it seemed "an odd collaboration", says The Guardian. But Fuller who launches a fashion website, Fashionair.com, next month sees clear synergies between the two worlds. And, indeed, sport. Andy Murray is his latest coup, says The Times. "In Murray, he has a young superstar with an edgy personality, a dry wit and the sort of street cred that Tim Henman could never master." Insiders at 19 say the surly Scot's earnings "could surpass the Beckhams".
"Power in the entertainment industry is shifting dramatically towards the artist, so, by association, managers have more power," says Fuller. But you won't find Fuller sharing the limelight. "There is no upside to fame," he once remarked. "It's so weird... celebrity is even afforded to business people. To Simon Cowell, for chrissakes!"
The prize asset landed
Fuller's 19 Entertainment already has one supermodel on its books: Claudia Schiffer. But the deal to gain control of the London-based Storm agency hands Fuller a list that includes Kate Moss, Lily Cole, Cindy Crawford and Carla Bruni, says The Sunday Times. However, the prize asset is perhaps the agency's founder, Sarah Doukas, who started Storm from her spare bedroom in Battersea in 1987.
Doukas, who stands to make millions from the deal, has always been an entrepreneur, says The Observer. After working as a model in the 1970s, she sold antiques on the King's Road, managed a punk band and set up a clothing company before cutting her teeth as a model booker. After recruiting Kate Moss as a 14-year-old at the check-in queue of JFK airport, Doukas went on to recruit "some of the most enduring names in fashion".
Although renowned for her maternal qualities (she considers Moss "her fourth daughter" and has housed several fledgling beauties, including Angelina Jolie, in her Battersea house), Doukas is a hard-headed businesswoman, notes The Australian. Having recently lost valuable "cover business" to celebrities, she responded with her own show biz division, advancing the career of Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, among others. "It's like being a trader in the City [except that] you are dealing with a live commodity," she declares. Fuller couldn't have put it better himself.
