Simon Cowell is renegotiating his American Idol contract this week, and rumors are starting to circulate about how much he is going to make. Last year he made $36 million for making teenagers feel bad about themselves (something that most adults, and just fellow human beings in general, do for free). This year he could make as much as four times that amount. From the New York Post:
Cowell, who reportedly made $36 million last year for judging the hit competition show, has been offered three or four times that amount -- between $100 million and $144 million per year -- by co-producers Fox and 19 Entertainment to stick with "Idol" when his contract expires next May, according to The Guardian, a London newspaper.
Sure. $144 million. That just makes sense based on the value that he adds to the world. Like, if you were to have asked me yesterday, before these reports were even being reported, if you were to have said "Gabe, how much money do you think Simon Cowell should make for shilling Coca-Cola and using third-grade-recess-caliber taunts," I would have said "somewhere in the ballpark of 143-145 million." So.
The thing is, it's not that much! Not for someone with Simon Cowell's lifestyle. Look at his expenses for 2009:
See? $144 million accounted for.
(Ed. Note: Woof. If these jokes are any indication, today is going to be a very long day.)
