Simon Cowell of America’s Got Talent lost 28 and had to go home

British music mogul Simon Cowell may have hundreds of millions of dollars to his name today, thanks to his TV talent hits Pop Idol and America’s Got Talent.

But the 63-year-old wasn’t always an aspiring entrepreneur. In fact, early in his career, he almost went bankrupt.

In his late 20s, Cowell found some success working as an artists and talent (A&R) consultant in the music industry and signing novelty acts such as the Power Rangers and puppets Zig and Jack.

It was then, Cowell said, that he was taken away.

„I didn’t learn about credit cards,” he told Europe’s Advertising Week recently, recalling the lessons from this career path.

“Once I started making some money, I did everything a young A&R guy would do. [I] Bought a Porsche, bought a house I couldn’t afford,” he said.

Before long, he spent all his money — and then some — and had to move back home with his mom and dad.

„When I was 28, I was broke. I had to go back and live with my parents. I was almost bankrupt,” he said.

In fact, a decade later, in his mid-30s, Cowell said he started doing „well.”

It was then that he signed British boybands Westlife and Five, which saw huge success.

Soon after, he became a judge on the first series of Pop Idol, a TV singing competition he co-created with fellow music manager Simon Fuller, which spawned various TV talent shows including The X Factor and The Got Talent franchise.

Today, businessman An estimated £390 million ($483 million) according to the latest edition of the Sunday Times Rich List published on Friday.

Still, Cowell said his early money blunder taught him an important lesson: „It taught me that I was in a hurry; I wanted everything to happen overnight.”

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