Put it this way, he's not feeling the pinch of this global economic crisis. Former Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe is spilling all the secrets of the show -- including some salaries -- to newspapers. Lythgoe says Simon is a master negotiator and worked over the producers to get his $36 million a year. That's $22,000 a minute for sitting at a table and telling people they are not good at singing. Lythgoe also says that Simon's fat salary cause a lot of friction with Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.