Simon Fuller, the genius behind the Spice Girls and "American Idol," had a fondness for luxury. The owner of a $500,000 Mercedes Maybach sedan and two personal jets (a Gulfstream 5-SP, and a Dassault Falcon 900), Fuller was once asked how many homes he owned. "Four," he said, "or is it five?"

["Visitors to his mansion in the south of France," Blender once reported, "are given a bottle of '19' brand olive oil made from groves on the estate."]