One Direction made £100 million ($196 million) in the two years since they competed on The X Factor.
Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik all entered the competition as solo singers but were formed into a group by the judging panel.
Despite coming third in the show, they have gone on to make the huge amount of money for themselves and an estimated £200 million ($392 million) for their management.
In a new chapter in Tom Bower's biography of Simon Cowell, Sweet Revenge, the author writes: "One Direction were Cowell's new Westlife - a revival of his mastery of the music business. Nothing had been left to chance by Sony Music, with the band's hit album Up All Night selling over five million copies.
"The songs, publishing, discs, DVDs, merchandising and endorsements brought in huge profits, with the five members of the group together estimated to have earned nearly £100million. Naturally, Sony and Syco raked in much more."
Recently the band signed a deal with Pepsi which is thought to be worth millions but they have also endorsed dolls, books, calendars and are set to embark on a huge world tour next year which will see their earnings increase even more.