Richest Supermodels of all Time
Kate Moss
Net worth: $80 million
Kate Moss was one of the biggest supermodels in the 90’s. She was discovered when she was just 14 years old at JFK airport by Storm Model Agency’s creator Sarah Doukas. Sarah signed Kate immediately. Kate didn’t become internationally known until her infamous Calvin Klein underwear campaign when she was 18 years old. These pictures are culturally significant in the fact that they helped prompt a trend that would become known as “Heroin-chic.”
Kate Moss was known as an “anti-super model” meaning she was so different then what a supermodel of the day looked and acted like. She helped bring about the cultural trend known as “Heroin-chic,” where instead of models being tan and having a healthy body weight they were skinny and pale. The trend brought about much controversy, even prompting the president at the time, Bill Clinton to speak out against it. Other supermodels at the time called the look “waifish” and accused Kate of having a drug and anorexic problem.
In 1999, Kate was voted 9th in the “50 Sexiest Women of 1999” by Maxim magazine. Kate continued to be a very successful model in the 2000’s. She appeared in Forbes magazine in 2012 because it was estimated she made almost $10 million a year from modeling and her other business ventures. Today her net worth is $80 million. She is the ninth richest supermodel of all time.
Christine Brinkley
Net worth: $80 million
Christie Brinkley is a 65 year old American entrepreneur, actress and supermodel. Christine was born in Monroe, Michigan in 1954 but she grew up in Los Angeles. After high school Christine moved to Paris to live and study art. While there she was discovered in a postoffice by the photographer, Errol Sawyer. Errol shot her first modeling pictures and sent them to Elite Modeling Agency of Paris. Christie then flew back to California to take a lunch meeting with the company’s Los Angeles chapter. By the end of the meeting she had signed a contract and was booked for 3 national ad campaigns.
Christine had multiple pictures featured on the cover of Glamour magazine. She signed a 25 year contract with cosmetics brand CoverGirl. It was one of the longest contracts in modeling history. CoverGirl signed her again in 2005 when the contract expired.
Christie rose to international acclaim when she was the featured girl of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for 3 consecutive years form 1979 to 1981. Christie went on to have pretty much the biggest modeling career you can have, and she still works today in the fashion business and the entertainment industry. Christies’s net worth is estimated at $80 million, making her the 8th richest model of all time.
Adriana Lima
Net worth: $85 million
Adriana Lima is a 38 year old actress and supermodel from Salvador, Brazil. She is Pardo Brazilian, which means she is mixed of many ethnicities. She is part Brazilian, Swiss, African, Japanese, Native, and West Indian. Adriana won many beauty pageants in Elementary school but never really thought about pursuing a career as a professional model. Her first model contest she entered was only because her friend didn’t want to enter alone.
When Adriana was 15 she won Ford’s “Supermodel of Brazil” competition. Her name was then put into Ford’s “Supermodel of the World” competition which she won second place. When she turned 18 three years later, Adrianna moved out to New York and signed with Elite Modeling Management.
Adriana found instant success in her new modeling career. In 1999, she got on the cover of Marie Claire Brazil. In 2000, Adriana and got on the Italian and Brazil Vogue magazine covers.Also in 2000, Adriana became the Guess? girl and was the prominent model shown in that year’s fall ad campaign.
Adriana is best known for being the longest and one of the most famous member of Victoria’s Secret Angels. She walked her first Victoria’s Secret runway when she was just 17 years old. Adriana was contracted to be an official Angel in 2000. That contract lasted until 2018 making her the longest running consecutive Angel in the company’s history. In 2017, they labeled Adriana as “the most valuable Victoria’s Secret Angel.”
Adriana is also well known for being a spokesperson for Maybelline cosmetics since 2003 and for her Super Bowl and Kia TV commercials. Since 2014, Adriana has been in Forbes magazine as the world’s 2nd highest paid model. Her net worth is $85 million. Adriana is the seventh richest supermodel in the world.
Tyra Banks
Net worth: $90 million
Tyra Banks is a 45 year old former supermodel, tv personality, author, actress producer, and businesswoman. Tyra was born and raised in Inglewood, California. She became a professional model when she was just 15 and still in high school. By 16 years old she was featured on the cover of Seventeen magazine. Tyra decided to not go to college and instead went to Paris to try to become a supermodel, which she succeeded at.
In Tyra’s first season as a model in Europe she walked the runway in 25 major fashion shows for the top fashion brands. Tyra was the first woman of African-American descent to featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which she was on three times. She was also the first black woman on the magazine GQ’s cover. Tyra was a prominent Victoria’s Secret Angel for 7 years from 1997 to 2005.
Starting in the early 90’s, Tyra also acted in small roles in major tv shows and films, like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Love & Basketball. In 2003, Tyra created and hosted America’s Next Top Model which became very successful and ran for 12 seasons. She also hosted her own talk show called The Tyra Banks Show which aired for 5 seasons. Tyra’s estimated net worth is $90 million, making her the sixth richest supermodel of all time.
Elle Macpherson
Net worth: $95 million
Elle Macpherson is a 55 year old Australian supermodel, actress and tv personality. Before Elle was planning to study Law at Sydney University, she took a year off school and traveled to New York City to make money from modeling to help pay for school. Her first job was a TAG soda commercial in 1982 which got her noticed in Australia as “the girl next door” type.
Elle’s modeling career took off very quickly. She became a top supermodel during the early 80’s and continued through the 90’s and 2000’s. She appeared in several top fashion magazines, especially Elle. Elle walked runways for Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Christian Dior, Perry Ellis, and many more. She has starred in ad campaigns for pretty much all the major fashion retail companies and even non-fashion companies like Chrysler, Miller Lite, Diet Coke, Budweiser and even KFC. Time magazine gave Elle the nickname “The Body” which she would has used in many business ventures.
In the 1990’s, Elle acted in movies. She was in Sirens, which starred Hugh Grant, Batman & Robin, with George Clooney, The Edge, starring Anthony Hopkins and The Mirror Has Two Faces, Barbra Streisand. In 1999, Elle had a recurring role in the insanely popular sitcom, Friends. In the 2010’s, Elle became the new host of Britain’s and Irelands Next Top Model. She also hosted the reality competition series called Fashion Star. Elle Macpherson has an estimated net worth of $95 million. She is the 5th richest supermodel in the world.
Iman
Net worth: $100 million
Zara Mohamed Abdulmajid, known professionally as Iman, is a 64 year old Somali-American model, actress, entrepreneur and tv personality. Iman’s father was the former Somali Ambassador in Saudi Arabia. Iman is fluent in five languages; English, Somali, Italian, French and Arabic. She went to college in Kenya and studied political science. While Iman was there she was discovered by the American photographer, Peter Beard. Beard urged her to become a model so she moved to New York City to see if she could make it.
Iman’s long, slender, tall figure and skin tone set her apart from the other models and immediately she was getting her photos in top magazines. Iman rose to become a supermodel in the 80’s and 90’s. She was a muse to many top fashion designers and photographers. Iman also acting as well during her career. Iman played in minor roles in tv shows like Star Trek and Miami Vice.
In 1992 she married British singer David Bowie until he passed away in 2016. In the mid 2000’s she hosted Project Runway Canada for 2 years. Today she runs her own cosmetic company called IMAN Cosmetics, which are known for their foundation makeup formulations. They are among some of the top selling brands at Walgreens. Iman’s estimated net worth is $100 million making her the fourth richest supermodel of all time.
Cindy Crawford
Net worth: $100 million
Cindy Crawford is a 53 year old actress and supermodel. Cindy got her first modeling gigs in high school posing in clothes for local stores in her hometown of DeKalb, Illinois. When she was 17 she was in a photoshoot which was featured on the cover of a local publication. After Cindy received so much positive feedback she wanted to pursue modeling as a career.
Cindy entered the Elite Modeling Management Look of the Year competition and won 2nd place. She then went to college on a scholarship for chemical engineering but dropped out after her first quarter to model full-time. Cindy moved to New York and signed with the Elite New York Modeling Agency.
During the 80’s and 90’s Cindy was a prominent supermodel for runway shows, ad campaigns, and magazine covers. Cindy’s trademark is the mole just above the corner of her upper lip. She also starred in commercials and acted in television and films as well. Cindy is famous for being in the Super Bowl Pepsi commercial in 1992, which they remade in 2016.
From 1989-1995, Cindy was the host of MTV’s House of Style, which was a reality tv show about the high fashion scene, supermodels and the trends of the day. Cindy had moderate success as an actress in movies. She was in films like Fair Game and The Simian Line.
In 2000, Crawford stopped modeling full-time to focus on other things like business and activism. She started her own furniture line and founded a charity to research Child Leukemia. Cindy returned to modeling again in 2011 and is still working today. Cindy Crawford has an estimated net worth of $100 million. She is the third richest supermodel in the world.
Gisele Bündchen
Net worth: $400 million
Gisele Bundchen is a 39 year old super model from Horizontina, in southern Brazil. When Gisele was 13 years old she was discovered by Elite magazine at a mall in São Paulo. That same year she took second place in the national modeling contest, Elite Look of the Year. After that, Gisele won fourth place in the international, Elite Model Look World Contest. At just fourteen years old Gisele became a full-time model. At 16, she had her first big runway gig, walking the catwalk at the New York City Fashion Week that year. Gisele’s career took off quickly and she has since become a legend in the field. Gisele has been a top model name since 2000. Since 2004, she has been among the highest paid models in the world.
Gisele even made a career in Hollywood. In 2004, she played a supporting role in the film, Taxi, starring Jimmy Fallon and Queen Latifah. In 2006, she played a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada, which starred Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
In 2009, Gisele married professional football quarterback Tom Brady. In 2012, she was number 1 on Forbes’ Top Earning Models list. In 2014, Forbes also named her as 89th most powerful woman in the world.
Gisele has also made quite the impact on social media. She has 15.4 million followers on instagram, making her the 8th most followed model on the platform. Gisele’s estimated net worth today is $400 million. She is the second richest supermodel of all time.
1. Kathy Ireland
Net worth: $500 million
Kathy Ireland is a 56 year old American supermodel and actress. She was born in Glendale, California and scouted at her Highschool by Elite Model Management. Kathy then went on to become one of the premiere supermodels of the 80’s and 90’s. Her picture has appeared on the top fashion magazine covers like Cosmopolitan, Mademoiselle, Vogue and even Forbes. She is best known for appearing in 13 consecutive Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues. During Sports Illustrated swimsuit’s 50th Anniversary, they named Kathy’s 1989 cover The Greatest Cover of All Time. Kathy also went on to acting in Hollywood, appearing in Melrose Place, Boy Meets World, Muppets Tonight, and Once Upon a Christmas.
Kathy Ireland founded a brand marketing firm called Kathy Ireland Worldwide that has since become incredibly successful. In 1993, Kathy’s name on a pair of socks sold 100 million pairs in Kmarts across the nation. They then expanded to accessories, swimwear, active wear and sweaters. Nowadays, in 2019, having done 2.6 billion in sales so far, Kathy Ireland Worldwide has products in not only fashion apparel but in Home, Wedding, Baby, Jewelry, Children’s toys, Crafts and even Pet care. Kathy was labeled one of the first “modelpreneurs,” paving the way for many models after her to start their own businesses. Today Kathy has a net worth of $500 million, making her the richest supermodel of all time.
