Gisele Bundchen has reigned as the world’s top-earning model for seven years in a row and has been a staple on the Celebrity 100 since 2001 — but could she become the world’s first billionaire supermodel (and also the first Brazilian female self-made billionaire)?
Aside from being a fashion icon and starring in high-profile campaigns for labels like Versace and Dior, Gisele is in the process of “branding herself” — licensing her name to products ranging from jewellery to eco-friendly cosmetics and lingerie. Her line of sandals with Grendene, one of the world’s leading makers of synthetic footwear, is a success both in Brazil and abroad, today rivalling the world-renowned Havaianas brand. According to Grendene’s annual report, the Ipanema line accounts for 63% of the company’s annual exports (R$ 394.8 millions, circa $250 million), with 25 million pairs sold in 2010 alone.
But Gisele’s biggest potential money-maker is yet to come. Eyeing Brazil’s growing women’s wear market (the sector’s earnings surged by 22% to $3.45 billion last year, according to ABIT, the Brazilian national association of textile industries), last May Gisele launched her own lingerie company in a joint venture with Hope (Brazil’s version of Victoria’s Secret), where she’s already a spokeswoman. Instead of licensing her name to the company, like most celebrities do, she created her own brand, Gisele Bundchen Brazilian Intimates, which since last week is being sold exclusively at Hope’s stores (the company operates a network of 61 owned stores and over one thousand sales points). She’ll also own a stake in the company, a savvy move few celebrities make. According to a recent report in Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, Gisele could add as much as R$ 30 million ($19 million) per year to her estimated $45 million annual income.
In addition, last year Gisele founded Sejaa Pure Skincare, an eco-friendly cosmetics company based in Phoenix, AZ. Sources close to Gisele tell me she is in talks to sell a stake in the business, of which she owns 100%. That’s not to mention the cash she rakes in from her role as creative-director to fashion retailer C&A’s Gisele Bundchen Collection.
Since Forbes began tracking Gisele’s numbers for the Celebrity 100, her estimated total earnings over the last 10 years have passed the $250 million mark. Assuming she’s been managing her cash, spending wisely and making smart investments, the number will likely continue to add up. we know she’s diversified into real estate: her portfolio includes a hotel in the south of Brazil, land in the posh northeast city of Trancoso, Bahia, a villa in Costa Rica and a multi-million dollar house that she is building in Brentwood, CA, with husband Tom Brady.
forbes.com/sites/andersonantunes/2011/06/01/could-supermodel-gisele-bundchen-be-on-track-to-becoming-a-billionaire/
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