Simon Cowell: the restless ambition of TV's Mr Nasty

After conquering the TV talent-show business, Simon Cowell now plans a television empire that he boasts will eventually rival Disney.

Everyone knows Simon Cowell is vain: a fellow American Idol judge once joked that his RayBan sunglasses are mirrored on the inside too. He even turned down a recent dinner invitation from Barack Obama because their diaries "didn't quite match". All the more reason why he's been chafing at the bit of late, says The Sunday Times. Despite his success as TV's most bankable personality, "Mr Nasty" is not his own man.

Cowell long ago sold the rights of hit reality TV shows The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent to Sony BMG. The worldwide Idol franchise, meanwhile, is owned by a consortium including Fox, Fremantle and 19 Management, the vehicle of Cowell's long-term rival and fellow British svengali, Simon Fuller. So small wonder Cowell seems to have jumped at a plan to team up with old friend Sir Philip Green to form a television business that they boast will eventually rival Disney (see below).

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