Heidi Klum

It was reported in May 2011 that Klum trails far behind Gisele Bündchen at No. 2 with estimated earnings of $20 million on Forbes list of the World's Top-Earning Models (2010-2011). Forbes noted that since ending her 13-year run as a Victoria's Secret Angel, Klum has become more of a businesswoman than a model. She's partnered with New Balance and Amazon.com to launch a clothing line and signed a 20-episode deal to host a new show on Lifetime, called Seriously Funny Kids. In fact, some noted fashion designers have long been commenting on Klum's limited role as a fashion model. Karl Lagerfeld, for example, in 2009 agreed with German designer Wolfgang Joop, who called Klum after she had posed naked on the cover of the German edition of GQ magazine, "no runway model. She is simply too heavy and has too big a bust". Lagerfeld observed that neither he nor Claudia Schiffer knew Klum, as she has never worked in Paris and was insignificant in the world of fashion, being "more bling bling and glamorous than current fashion."

In December 2004, Klum became the host, judge and executive producer of the reality show Project Runway on the U.S. cable television channel Bravo (airing on Lifetime television beginning in 2009), in which fashion designers compete for the opportunity to show their line at New York Fashion Week and receive money to launch their own fashion line. She received an Emmy Award nomination for the show for each of the first four seasons. Read Less