Simon Cowell Is Prime Time's Top-Earning Man

The snarkiest man on television is also the highest-earning.

American Idol judge Simon Cowell is television's best-paid man in prime time, earning an estimated $75 million from June 2008 to June 2009, according to Forbes.

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Cowell, 50, not only padded his bank account with his Idol salary, but from his other reality shows, including America's Got Talentand Britain's Got Talent, as well as from his career as a music producer.

Second on the list is real estate mogul-turned-Apprenticehost Donald Trump, who took in $50 million for his diversified entertainment résumé.

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At No. 3 is another Idol star, Ryan Seacrest, 34, who earned about $38 million for the year. Seacrest, considered the hardest-working man in Hollywood, hosts E! News and a top-40 radio show daily and produces television shows, including Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Denise Richards: It's Complicated.

Rounding out the top five are Charlie Sheen, who earned nearly $21 million for Two and a Half Men and Steve Carell, who took in an estimated $20 million for The Officeand recent film roles.