You’ve seen them strut down the runway in barely-there lingerie or designer clothing, with all eyes fixed on their 20 inch waists and seamless physiques, but why this line of work? Why would these women choose to subject themselves to rigorous workouts, insane diets and not to mention to cruel criticisms from the rest of the world? For the fame? Maybe. For the fortune? Definitely! It is estimated that Victoria’s Secret model, Gisele raked in over $15 million in 2005 alone!

Forbes Magazine ranks Gisele as the highest paid model in the industry, followed by model turned reality show host Heidi Klum. The 34-year-old has really accelerated her career with the hit designer reality series, Project Runway. The show is in its fourth season and ratings are better than ever. Forbes estimates that Klum makes more than $7 million per year.

Also on the list are Tyra Banks, Kate Moss and Adriana Lima. At an estimated $6 million per year,Tyra Banks has her hand in just about everything. Though her modeling career was officially put to rest, Banks is producer and host of her own talk show and she has three more projects in the works including a made-for-tv movie. Kate Moss made an estimated $5 million and last is Lima with an estimated $4.5 million.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 11:07 pm and is filed under Celebrity.