Highest-Paid Models 2018: Kendall Jenner Leads With $22.5 Million - Forbes

Kendall Jenner earned a career high of $22.5 million between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018 to top Forbes' ranking of highest-paid models.Getty

Kendall Jenner may not be the best-paid Kardashian-Jenner, but she's earning more than any other model in the world. The 23-year-old banked $22.5 million in the 12 months prior to June 2018 to top this year's ranking of highest-paid models.

Her younger sister, Kylie Jenner, pocketed an estimated $166.5 million pretax in the same time frame thanks to Kylie Cosmetics, but the older Jenner sibling still scored a career best from contracts with Estee Lauder, Adidas and Calvin Klein, among others.

Jenner edges supermodel-turned-coding-advocate Karlie Kloss, who earned $13 million--the best take-home of her decade-long modeling career. Kloss has parlayed a giant social media presence into a personal brand sought after by advertisers, and secured herself lucrative deals with the likes of Swarovski, Adidas and Away, among others.

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Thanks to social media, Kloss told Forbes, "I could be seen as well as heard." She has since used that voice to found Kode with Klossy, an education nonprofit that aims to teach girls the basics of computer programming.

Together, the world’s 10 highest-paid models banked a cumulative $113 million between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018, up slightly from 2017's $109.5 million collective total.

All have used social media to raise their profiles. For models such as Chrissy Teigen and Rosie Huntington-Whitely (No. 3-tie; $13.5 million), online popularity has helped them branch out into other businesses. Teigen has a line of cookware, released a second cookbook and is the host of television show Lip Sync Battle, while Rosie Hungtington-Whitely has expanded from her popular products at British retailers Marks & Spencers into her own beauty website, Rose Inc.

"Your social media page is your magazine of your life, so how you represent yourself matters," said Ivan Bart, President at IMG Models, whose agency represents the majority of models on the list. "If you're going to crossover you have to have a vision for it."

Hollywood remains Cara Delevingne's (No. 5; $10 million) vision despite the flop of her last major outing, Valerian, which only grossed $225.9 million on a $177.2 million budget. She will next be seen onscreen in Amazon Prime Video series Carnival Row.

Doutzen Kroes (No. 10; $8 million) returned to the ranking after a year's hiatus with lucrative L'Oréal and Piaget contracts, among others. Fellow returnees include Delevingne and Joan Smalls (No 8; $8.5 million), who all had busier years that boosted their bank accounts.

Dropping off the list this year were Adriana Lima, Ashley Graham and Liu Wen, who all earned just below the $8 million cut off.

Methodology

All earnings estimates are from June 1, 2017, through June 1, 2018. Figures are pretax; fees for agents, managers and lawyers are not deducted. Earnings are based on income from cosmetics, fragrance and other contracts. Estimates are sourced from interviews with numerous managers, agents, brand executives and industry experts.

The World's Highest-Paid Models 2018:

1. Kendall Jenner

Earnings: $22.5 million

2. Karlie Kloss

$13 million

3. (tie) Chrissy Teigen

$11.5 million

3. (tie) Rosie Huntington-Whitely

$11.5 million

5. (tie) Gisele Bundchen

$10 million

5. (tie) Cara Delevingne