Tyra Banks | Celebrity Net Worth 2026

Biography & Early Wealth Journey

Tyra Banks first became famous as one of the defining supermodels of the 1990s, breaking barriers as the first Black woman to appear on the cover of "GQ," the first Black model to appear on the "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue" cover, and later the first Black woman to appear on that cover by herself. She was also one of the original Victoria's Secret Angels and became a highly paid commercial model for brands including CoverGirl.

Banks ultimately made far more money from television than modeling. In 2003, she created "America's Next Top Model," serving as host, executive producer, and a significant owner of the series as it grew into a global reality television franchise. She followed it with "The Tyra Banks Show," which won two Daytime Emmy Awards, and later hosted "America's Got Talent" and "Dancing with the Stars." At the height of her television empire in the late 2000s, Banks was earning an estimated $30 million per year.

Banks has continued reinventing herself in later decades. She returned to the "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue" cover in 2019, walked the Victoria's Secret runway again in 2024 after a 19-year absence, launched the ice cream company SMiZE & DREAM, and relocated with her family to Sydney, Australia, as the business expanded. In 2026, she joined Heidi Klum and the judging panel of "Project Runway" as a recurring judge.

Early Life

Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts

Tyra Lynne Banks was born on December 4, 1973, in Inglewood, California. Her mother, Carolyn London, worked as a medical photographer and later became an important part of Tyra's management team, while her father, Donald Banks, was a computer consultant. Her parents divorced when Tyra was six years old, and she has an older brother named Devin.

Banks has described herself as an awkward child who underwent a dramatic growth spurt during adolescence. She attended Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles and began modeling at 15. After being rejected by several agencies, she signed with L.A. Models and subsequently moved to Elite Model Management at 16.

Banks planned to attend Loyola Marymount University but postponed college when the opportunity arose to model in Europe. The decision quickly paid off.

Real Estate, Luxury Assets & Personal Investments

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Supermodel Breakthrough

Banks traveled to Europe in 1991 and became an immediate sensation. During her first season in Paris, she booked 25 fashion shows, an extraordinary number for a newcomer, and walked for designers including Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Valentino, Fendi, and Donna Karan.

Fashion insiders initially compared her to fellow supermodel Naomi Campbell, but Banks was determined to build a business around her own identity rather than remain dependent on runway bookings. As her body changed during her early 20s, she shifted away from the extremely thin standards of European high fashion and toward commercial, lingerie, and swimsuit modeling.

Wealth Trajectory & Future Earnings Projections

That transition made her an even bigger star. Banks signed a major CoverGirl contract and became the first Black woman to appear on the cover of "GQ" in 1996. That same year, she and Argentine model Valeria Mazza appeared together on the cover of the "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue," making Banks the first Black model to appear on the magazine's swimsuit cover.

In 1997, Banks appeared alone on the "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue" cover, becoming the first Black woman to receive a solo cover. She also became the first Black model featured on the cover of the Victoria's Secret catalog and one of the company's original Angels.

Banks walked her first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 1996 and became one of the brand's most recognizable models. She retired from the runway at the 2005 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show as she increasingly concentrated on television production.

Her modeling retirement did not prove permanent. Banks returned to the cover of the "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue" in 2019 at age 45. She was also part of the magazine's 60th-anniversary Legends project in 2024, and in October of that year she returned to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, closing the runway nearly two decades after her previous appearance.

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Acting Career

Banks began branching into acting while her modeling career was at its peak. In 1993, she landed a recurring role as Jackie Ames, an old friend and love interest of Will Smith's character, on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

She made her feature-film debut in John Singleton's 1995 drama "Higher Learning." Banks subsequently appeared in films including "Love & Basketball," "Coyote Ugly," "Halloween: Resurrection," and "Hannah Montana: The Movie."

One of her best-known acting roles was Eve, a doll who comes to life in the 2000 Disney Channel movie "Life-Size." Banks returned to the character nearly two decades later for "Life-Size 2."

She also made guest appearances on shows including "Felicity," "Gossip Girl," "Glee," and "Black-ish." Although acting became a meaningful extension of her career, television hosting and production ultimately became far more lucrative.

"America's Next Top Model"

In 2003, Banks created "America's Next Top Model," a reality competition that combined fashion modeling with the elimination format popularized by the reality television boom of the early 2000s. Banks served as the show's host, executive producer, and chief creative personality.

"America's Next Top Model" became a massive success. The American version ultimately ran for 24 cycles between 2003 and 2018, moving from UPN to The CW and later VH1. Banks hosted 23 of those cycles, briefly stepping away when Rita Ora hosted the 23rd.

The series also became an international franchise, spawning local adaptations around the world. Its photo shoots, makeovers, eliminations, catchphrases, and judging-panel confrontations became fixtures of 2000s pop culture. Banks' instruction to models to "smize" – smile with their eyes – became so closely associated with her that she eventually incorporated it into her business ventures.

Unlike a television personality hired merely to host someone else's concept, Banks had an ownership position in "America's Next Top Model." Reporting during the height of the series indicated that she owned roughly 25% of the show, in addition to collecting compensation as host and executive producer.

That ownership was a major reason television dramatically accelerated her wealth.

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Television Earnings

By the mid-2000s, Banks had transformed herself from a highly paid model into one of television's most successful female entrepreneurs. In addition to owning a portion of "America's Next Top Model," she controlled her own production company and held an ownership interest in her daytime talk show.

In 2006, Banks earned more than $18 million from her various businesses and television projects. Her earnings continued climbing as "America's Next Top Model" and "The Tyra Banks Show" ran simultaneously.

Between June 2008 and June 2009, Banks earned an estimated $30 million. She earned roughly the same amount during the following 12-month period, making her one of the highest-paid women on television.

Those earnings did not come solely from appearing on camera. Banks' production company developed shows including "True Beauty" and "Stylista," giving her producer and ownership income in addition to hosting fees, modeling contracts, acting roles, and endorsements.

"The Tyra Banks Show"

Banks launched "The Tyra Banks Show" in 2005 while "America's Next Top Model" was already thriving. The syndicated daytime program mixed celebrity interviews and fashion segments with episodes about body image, relationships, race, discrimination, self-esteem, and other social issues.

The show became an important part of Banks' transition from model to media entrepreneur. It ran for five seasons and won consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Informative Talk Show in 2008 and 2009.

Banks also maintained a substantial ownership stake in the program, allowing her to benefit financially from the show's success beyond simply receiving a hosting salary. "The Tyra Banks Show" ended in 2010 as Banks turned her attention toward other production and business ventures.

Other Television Work

Banks continued to move between hosting, judging, and producing after the end of her daytime show. In 2015, she helped launch the syndicated lifestyle talk show "FABLife," serving as a co-host and executive producer before leaving the daily hosting role to focus on her businesses.

In 2017, Banks replaced Nick Cannon as host of "America's Got Talent." She hosted the competition for two seasons before leaving following the 2018 season.

In 2020, Banks took over as host and executive producer of "Dancing with the Stars," succeeding longtime hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews. She hosted three seasons, with Alfonso Ribeiro joining her for her final season, before departing in 2023 to focus more heavily on entrepreneurship and television production.

Banks returned to fashion competition television in 2026 as a recurring judge on the 22nd season of "Project Runway." The role reunited two of the most successful model-turned-TV personalities of their generation, Banks and Heidi Klum.

SMiZE & DREAM

Ice cream became Banks' most ambitious consumer business following her television-hosting years. She initially launched the concept as SMiZE Cream in 2021 before developing it into SMiZE & DREAM, a premium ice cream and experiential retail company whose name incorporates her famous "smize" catchphrase.

Banks has said the concept was inspired by childhood memories of eating ice cream with her mother while talking about their dreams. The company experimented with direct-to-consumer sales, pop-ups, events, airline and cruise partnerships, and physical retail.

A planned flagship in Washington, D.C., became the subject of a legal dispute after the company backed out of a 10-year commercial lease. In 2025, the property's landlord sued Banks, her partner Louis Bélanger-Martin, and a company connected to SMiZE & DREAM for approximately $2.8 million, alleging breach of contract. Banks and her co-defendants disputed the allegations, arguing that the property had significant deficiencies and that the landlord had not delivered what they had been promised.

Meanwhile, Banks increasingly focused the business on Australia. After repeatedly traveling to Sydney while developing and manufacturing the company's ice cream, she relocated there with her family. SMiZE & DREAM opened a roughly 3,000-square-foot flagship in Sydney's Darling Harbour in 2025 and later expanded internationally, including to Dubai.

In 2025, the company also attracted considerable attention for "Hot Mama," a warm dairy dessert Banks marketed as "hot ice cream." The unusual product generated viral social media attention and became another example of Banks' longtime preference for building brands around concepts and terminology designed to stand out.

Books, Beauty, and Business Education

Banks has pursued a number of businesses outside television and ice cream. She launched the cosmetics company TYRA Beauty in 2014 and has operated her various media interests through companies including Bankable Productions and The Tyra Banks Company.

She is also an author. Her fantasy novel "Modelland," released in 2011, became a New York Times bestseller. In 2018, Banks and her mother, Carolyn London, co-wrote "Perfect Is Boring: 10 Things My Crazy, Fierce Mama Taught Me About Beauty, Booty, and Being a Boss."

Banks also attended Harvard Business School's Owner/President Management program. She completed the nine-week executive education program in 2012. Contrary to a misconception that has occasionally followed her career, the program is not an MBA or other Harvard degree; it is an executive education certificate designed for established business owners and executives.

"America's Next Top Model" Legacy and Netflix Lawsuit

Years after "America's Next Top Model" ended, clips from the series found a new audience online, and some of its more extreme challenges and judging moments received renewed criticism. Banks acknowledged that the show had made choices she would approach differently, while also defending its efforts to broaden definitions of beauty and give opportunities to models from backgrounds that were often underrepresented in fashion.

In February 2026, Netflix released the three-part documentary series "Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model." Banks participated in an extensive interview for the project alongside former judges, staff members, and contestants.

Four months later, Banks sued Netflix, directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan, and other parties involved with the documentary for defamation. Banks alleged that producers reduced a roughly three-and-a-half-hour interview to about 16 minutes and selectively edited her responses to create a false impression regarding her knowledge of an alleged sexual assault involving a former contestant. Netflix denied that the documentary was defamatory and filed a motion in August 2026 seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed.

Return to Modeling

Despite having formally retired from runway modeling in 2005, Banks has periodically returned for major fashion moments. Her 2019 "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue" cover came 22 years after her historic 1997 solo cover.

In 2024, she participated in the "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue" 60th-anniversary Legends shoot alongside models including Christie Brinkley, Kate Upton, Heidi Klum, and others. Later that year, Banks closed the revived Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, marking her first appearance on the company's runway since 2005.

(Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)

Personal Life

During the 2010s, Banks was in a long-term relationship with Norwegian photographer Erik Asla. In January 2016, they welcomed their son, York Banks Asla, via gestational surrogate. Banks and Asla separated in 2017.

Banks later began a relationship with Canadian businessman Louis Bélanger-Martin. She eventually relocated to Sydney, Australia, with her son and Bélanger-Martin as she expanded SMiZE & DREAM there. Banks said she had initially traveled frequently to Australia for the ice cream business before deciding that she and her family wanted to make Sydney their home.

Real Estate

Banks has bought and sold an unusually large number of high-end homes, particularly in Southern California. In 2004, she paid $3.085 million for a roughly 5,700-square-foot Spanish Colonial home in Beverly Hills and reportedly spent around $2 million renovating it. She listed the property for $7.7 million in 2015 and sold it the following year for $6.33 million.

In 2009, Banks paid approximately $10.13 million for four adjoining units at the environmentally oriented Riverhouse condominium development in Manhattan's Battery Park City. She combined the units into a roughly 7,000-square-foot duplex featuring five bedrooms, a private salon, gym, mirrored dressing room, staff quarters, and expansive Hudson River views. Banks offered the residence for rent at $50,000 per month in 2015 and later listed it for $17.5 million, but ultimately removed it from the market.

Banks also became a prolific house flipper in Pacific Palisades. Among her more successful transactions was a roughly 6,100-square-foot house she purchased for $7.35 million in 2016 and sold for $8.9 million in 2018. She also renovated and sold several smaller properties in the neighborhood.

In February 2018, Banks paid $6.995 million for another Pacific Palisades mansion. She sold the roughly 6,160-square-foot home in December 2021 for her full $7.895 million asking price, producing a gain of about $900,000 before renovation expenses, commissions, taxes, and other costs.

Here's a video tour of this home:

In 2019, Banks paid a little over $3 million for another Pacific Palisades property that she planned to renovate. She later sold that house for approximately $3.2 million. In 2021, Banks paid $4.7 million for an oceanfront fixer-upper in Malibu, continuing a real estate buying and selling streak that had made property investment a notable secondary part of her financial life.

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