Supposedly the richest man in television, Simon Cowell is the Brit who's got talent for raking it in. Worth £100m (€113.7m) at the last count, he's arguably also the reason why a nation too broke to head to the pub instead tunes in every weekend for the diversion of seeing this latter-day Svengali of pop make another hapless wannabee redundant.

Having just turned a well-preserved 51, displaying an impressive chest rug curling over one of his trademark V-necks, and with a smile more menacing than genial, Cowell pretty much sums up the current popular music industry in one neatly-coiffed package.

The object of The X Factor "is not to be mean to the losers, but to find a winner" he has claimed, but Cowell is smart enough never to underestimate the public's taste for that thinly-disguised meanness. Unlike excitable Louis, tearful Cheryl, or Dannii Minogue, he's the judge all the contestants dread.

After all, he has his bad-boy image to maintain. When invited onto BBC4's Desert Island Discs four years ago, he said, if stranded, his one luxury would be a mirror "because I'd miss me". Former girlfriend Jackie St Clair likely wished him marooned indefinitely when he presented her with a life-sized oil portrait of himself for her 50th birthday last year.

As an extremely eligible bachelor, he's also known a string of ex's. His engagement to St Clair's replacement, Afghan make-up artist Mezhghan Hussainy, has reportedly just broken up, while his longest relationship – six years with Terri Seymour, the US Extra Extra presenter who became Cowell's ex-ex in 2008 – ended after she finally admitted defeat in breaking his resolve never to marry or have kids. She was given $5m cash and another $4.6m to buy a Beverly Hills home.

Inevitably, there has been speculation about Cowell's sexual orientation, and that he might be gay or bisexual. He has refused to refute such rumours, sensibly telling one British newspaper that denial "would imply that it's some sort of evil" and given that there are "plenty of gay people working in television, so if I was, it wouldn't be a problem saying I was".

Cowell is no working-class hero, despite having left school at 16. He attended public school, and his parents weren't short of a few bob. But they insisted he use his pocket money for ice lollies when they went on luxury holidays, and instilled in the boy the need to make his own lolly as an adult. He's made no secret of that devotion to money – "as much as I can get my hands on". He famously told Rolling Stone magazine he regretted not being around in the '60s to sign The Beatles – not for Lennon and McCartney's timeless music, but for the timeless royalties.

Another of his crimes against humanity was Robson and Jerome's cover version of 'Unchained Melody', which blocked 'Common People' by Pulp from the number one slot in 1995.

Still, as the nation huddles around their tellies from now till the austerity Christmas ahead, it's unsentimental Simon who will go on, like a murdered ballad on an endless loop, bringing a glow to the nation's cheeks each weekend.