In 2006, Cowell signed to two more record-breaking deals.

He sold the broadcast rights to his Dangerous world tour to HBO for $20 million, a record-breaking deal that still stands.

Some record-breaking deals are likely this year, including a $15 billion-plus buyout of Auna, a leading Spanish telecommunications group.

But when the sale was finally completed this month, coming after months of record-breaking deals in a gravity-defying market, it seemed positively earthbound.

It seems as if every week brings news of another record-breaking deal for office towers or residential buildings in a city grappling with prosperity and success.

But in the midst of all this color - of great masterpieces, a luxurious life and record-breaking deals - Duveen himself is colorless, a silhouette with no inner life.

THE record-breaking deal that NBC signed last week to keep its biggest hit show is proof: "Funny is money."

Umbro's sponsorship lasted for ten years, followed by Nike's record-breaking £302.9 million deal that will last until 2015; 3.8 million replica shirts were sold in the first 22 months with the company.

In December 2000, Rodriguez was handed the record-breaking deal by the naïve owner of the Texas Rangers, Tom Hicks.

But one area where the two have collided is in Florida, where First Union lost out to Nationsbank's record-breaking deal to acquire Barnett.