Year after year since 2002, Gisele Bundchen has made more money than any other model in the world. At 34, she is still sitting pretty at the top of the world's highest-paid models list, pulling in an estimated $47 million before taxes and fees in the last 12 months.
The Brazilian bombshell out-earned second place beauties Doutzen Kroes and Adriana Lima by $39 million - Bundchen also made about $16 million more than quarterback husband Tom Brady's $31.3 million annual paycheck. Along with lucrative contracts for
Full List: The World’s Highest-Paid Models Of 2014
Dutch powerhouse Doutzen Kroes this year bolstered her lucrative L'Oreal cosmetics contract and longstanding Victoria's Secret deal with H&M, Emilio Pucci and Miu Miu appearances to snag runner-up. Another millionaire minted by Victoria's Secret is Adriana Lima, the longest-running Angel in the brand's history, who first posed for them in 2000. The 33-year-old's supermodel seniority comes with a supersized deal, which she supplements this year by returning to Maybelline and signing a new Desigual contract.
In FORBES' first-ever Celebrity 100 list back in 1999, just five models made the ranking. Of that group - Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Niki Taylor and Kate Moss - Moss is the only remaining old guard on the roster. This year, the indomitable Brit earned an estimated $7 million before taxes and other fees, from a historic deal with Rimmel cosmetics, plus campaigns for St. Tropez self-tan and Kerastase haircare products.
The World's Highest-Paid Models 2014
Kate Upton is the highest-ranked newcomer with an estimated $7 million in annual earnings, thanks to a lucrative Bobbi Brown signing and Express clothing line deal. Upton shot to fame after a video of her performing a popular dance known as the "Dougie" at a sports game went viral; she has since landed campaigns for Sam Edelman, David Yurman and Accessorize. (Upton is just one of five models ranked who has not been a Victoria's Secret Angel.)
The highest-paid models list tracks pretax earnings for all models who make the majority of their income modelling, rather than acting or singing. To form the list, we looked at income from cosmetics and fragrance contracts, advertising, endorsements and other ventures. Management, agent and attorney fees are not deducted. Earnings are tabulated from June 2013 to June 2014 and based on interviews with numerous managers, agents and brand executives.
Miranda Kerr and Liu Wen also pulled in $7 million in the last 12 months, just ahead of Alessandra Ambrosio and Hilary Rhoda, who both made $5 million in the last year. The 21 models on the list made a combined $142 million.
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2014 was a year of fresh faces: among the list's new additions were Karlie Kloss, Jourdan Dunn, Anja Rubik and Cara Delevingne. Though long-established catwalk queens, their earnings have only just caught up with their stratospheric Instagram follower counts.
"The first question from brands these days is immediately, 'how many followers do they have?'" says Ivan Bart, senior vice president and managing director of IMG models. "Models can be more famous than a lot of celebrities out there because they have such a large following."
"It [social media] has given models a voice and it's the next way for advertising to reach an audience," continued Chris Gay, general manager of The Society Management.
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Bundchen, who boasts 2.7 million Instagram followers, has earned $386 million from modelling since 2001. Still, her highly-paid cohort are very much the minority - according to the New York labor department statistics on model earnings, the mean annual salary is $43,570. As sociologist Ashley Mears points out in "Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model," models are rarely paid for editorial shoots or catwalk appearances. Similarly, gigs with prestigious names like Chanel or Fendi don’t pay much, but their high fashion cachet lets models cash in with other campaigns gained from the exposure.
Still, the perceived glamour of modeling continues to attract a never-ending stream of hopefuls. Moss and Miranda, watch your back: among the likely new additions to the highest-paid list are Fei Fei Sun and Kendall Jenner, whose 12 million-strong Instagram following propelled her to a Givenchy campaign.
Additional reporting by Alicia Adamczyk.
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