Simon Cowell overtakes Elton and Mick in rich list

Simon Cowell overtakes Elton and Mick in rich list
Simon Cowell overtakes Elton and Mick in rich list (Image credit: AP/Press Association Images)

Simon Cowell has leapfrogged Sir Elton John and Sir Mick Jagger into the top 10 of music millionaires. The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent boss has seen his wealth soar by a further £35 million in the past year, according to the Sunday Times Rich List. Cowell's £200 million fortune places him at sixth in the list of British and Irish millionaires, to be published this weekend, just one place behind his old friend and rival Simon Fuller. He is still £175 million behind Fuller, the man behind TV shows Pop Idol and American Idol, which set Cowell on the road to TV stardom. In the past year Cowell - boss of production company Syco - has signed a new deal with ITV and is also preparing to launch a US version of The X Factor. Earlier this week he announced plans to launch a new game show fronted by Ant and Dec called Red Or Black? and has talked of launching a global pop show in the future. Clive Calder tops the UK music millionaire section of the 23rd Rich List, with a fortune of £1.3 billion, made from the sale of his Zomba Records in 2002. Lord Lloyd-Webber is second in the list with £680 million, while impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh is in third place. Sir Paul McCartney is ranked fourth. New entries to this year's top 50 include AC/DC singer Brian Johnson, who is estimated to be worth £50 million, according to the list compiled by wealth expert Philip Beresford. Noel and Liam Gallagher are listed together with a joint wealth of £63 million despite their high profile fall-out which saw guitarist Noel leave Oasis in August 2009. Liam has since relaunched his career with Beady Eye.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.