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Piers Morgan reveals how he has stayed ahead of the media game.
"Do I like it? Of course I do, I love it," says Piers Morgan.
There's little doubt about that. The former editor of the UK tabloid Daily Mirror has managed to turn disaster into spectacular success, not to mention spectacular fortune, by turning himself into a global celebrity.
Just over three years ago, Morgan was booted out of his job as editor of the Daily Mirror after printing fake pictures of British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. He has always maintained he had no idea the pictures were false - but that didn't matter much to his bosses, who showed him the door.
"I learnt then that the first secret to success is to keep your mouth shut when you want to open it most," he says.
Morgan did just that and managed to collect a US$1m pay-off from the paper. Better still, he was able to reveal the secrets of his newspaper years in a best-selling book The Insider, which topped the UK best-seller charts for several weeks. A follow-up book Don't you know who I am also topped the charts - and Pop Idol creator Simon Cowell has since chosen Morgan to be a celebrity judge on the hit shows ‘America's Got Talent' and ‘Britain's Got Talent.'
These have made Morgan very rich and famous. "I am the sort of person I used to write about I suppose," he says.
This may only be the beginning - Hollywood producers are looking to turn his first book into a movie, and with a third book planned and several more television shows in the pipeline - both in the US and UK - the cash is likely to keep piling in.
"There is that thing people say about money not making you happy - I think I would disagree," he says.
Piers Morgan will be making a keynote speech at the Arabian Business Media & Marketing Conference in Dubai on November 11/12. Details can be found on www.arabianbusiness.com.
1. Keep your mouth shut
2. Don't always say what you think
3. Get an education
4. Only work for people better than you
5. Try your hand at every single thing you can - you'll eventually find something you are great at
6. Don't give a damn what people say about you
7. Have a thick skin
8. Have a laugh
9. Have another laugh
10. Have a great laugh!
