Tyra Banks’s net worth is estimated at about $90 million in 2026. The Tyra Banks net worth figure comes from three careers stacked together: one of the most successful modeling runs of the 1990s, creating and hosting America’s Next Top Model, and a string of business ventures that now includes her ice cream brand, Smize & Dream.
Key Takeaways
- Tyra Banks’s net worth is estimated at about $90 million in 2026.
- Forbes estimated she earned $30 million in a single year at the height of her TV career.
- She created, produced and hosted America’s Next Top Model, which ran for 24 cycles from 2003 to 2018.
- Her company owns Bankable Productions, and she founded the ice cream brand Smize & Dream.
- She won Daytime Emmys for The Tyra Banks Show and later hosted Dancing with the Stars.
| Full name | Tyra Lynne Banks |
|---|---|
| Born / Age | December 4, 1973, Inglewood, California (52) |
| Profession | Model, TV host, producer, entrepreneur, author |
| Known for | America’s Next Top Model, The Tyra Banks Show, Victoria’s Secret |
| Estimated net worth (2026) | About $90 million |
| Main income sources | TV production and hosting, modeling, Smize & Dream, books |
What is Tyra Banks’s net worth in 2026?
Tyra Banks is worth about $90 million in 2026. That estimate is based on her modeling income in the 1990s and early 2000s, her producing and hosting pay from America’s Next Top Model and her talk show, and the value of the companies she owns. The figure is not published by Banks, so it is an informed estimate.
What makes her fortune unusual is that she did not stop at being the talent. Most models earn well for a decade and then fade from view. Banks used her fame to create TV formats she owned, which paid her far more than any modeling contract.
How did Tyra Banks start her modeling career?
Banks grew up in Los Angeles and started modeling as a teenager. Several agencies turned her down at first. In 1991, she moved to Paris and booked a large number of runway shows in her first season, a strong debut for a new model.
Over the next decade she became one of the best-known models in the world. Her key career wins include:
- Walking for top fashion houses in Paris, Milan and New York.
- Landing beauty and fashion campaigns for major brands.
- Appearing on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 1996 and again, on her own, in 1997.
- Working as a Victoria’s Secret Angel, a role she held until she retired from the runway in 2005.
Forbes listed her among the world’s best-paid supermodels in the mid-2000s. Modeling gave her a strong financial base, but her bigger money came from television. For a look at how models build lasting wealth today, see our profile of Kendall Jenner’s modeling and tequila fortune.
Why did Tyra Banks move from modeling to TV?
Modeling pays well, but it has a short shelf life and the model rarely owns anything. A top model is paid per job or per campaign, and once the bookings slow down, the income stops. Banks saw that early. While she was still one of the busiest models in the business, she started taking acting roles and TV appearances, including a recurring part on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the film Coyote Ugly in 2000.
Her real move was to sell an idea rather than her time. She pitched a reality competition that would show what modeling is really like, with herself as the mentor. That idea became America’s Next Top Model. By the time she walked her last runway show in 2005, she already had a hit series and a talk show on the way, so leaving modeling cost her very little.
How did America’s Next Top Model make her rich?
America’s Next Top Model is the core of the Tyra Banks net worth story. Banks created the show and served as its host and executive producer. It premiered in 2003 on UPN, moved to The CW, and later ran on VH1. Over 24 cycles, it became one of the longest-running reality competitions on TV, and the format was sold and remade in dozens of countries.
Because she created the show, Banks earned in several ways at once:
- A hosting fee for appearing on screen each cycle.
- Executive producer fees for running the show.
- A share of the profits from the format, including international versions.
The show made her a household name with a new generation and turned phrases like “smize,” short for smiling with your eyes, into pop culture. Banks later trademarked the word through her holding company.
In February 2026, Banks said she was open to a possible new Cycle 25, as Deadline reported. A revival would give the franchise new value after an eight-year break.
How does a TV format keep paying its creator?
A TV format is the recipe for a show: its rules, structure, look and name. When a show like Top Model becomes a hit, producers in other countries pay a license fee to make their own local version. Those versions then send money back to the format owners for years, even when the original show is off the air.
That is why creating a show is so much more valuable than hosting one. A host is paid while the cameras are rolling. A creator can earn from reruns, streaming deals, international remakes and spin-off products long after filming ends. Banks’s share of the format is not public, but owning part of a show that was remade around the world is one of the biggest long-term assets behind her wealth.
How much did Tyra Banks earn at her peak?
Forbes tracked her earnings closely during her TV peak. Its estimates show how fast her income grew once she owned her shows:
| Period | Estimated earnings | Main sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 (reported 2006) | About $18 million | Talk show, Top Model, modeling |
| June 2007 to June 2008 | About $23 million | TV production, hosting, endorsements |
| June 2008 to June 2009 | About $30 million | TV production, hosting, endorsements |
In both 2008 and 2009, Forbes ranked her as the top-earning woman in prime-time TV. These are pre-tax figures, and agents, lawyers and taxes take a large share. Even so, several years at this level built most of her wealth.
What was The Tyra Banks Show?
The Tyra Banks Show was a daytime talk show that ran from 2005 to 2010. Banks hosted it and produced it through her company, Bankable Productions. It won Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Talk Show, which put her among the most successful daytime hosts of that era.
The talk show and Top Model overlapped for five years, so Banks was earning from two series at the same time. That is the main reason her income peaked in the late 2000s. You can compare her daytime success with another long-running host in our profile of Whoopi Goldberg’s net worth.
What other TV hosting jobs has Tyra Banks had?
After Top Model, Banks kept working as a host on major network shows. She hosted America’s Got Talent on NBC in 2017. In 2020, she became host of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, a job she held for three seasons.
In 2018, she also signed a first-look deal with Universal Television to develop and produce new shows through Bankable Productions. Her full list of producer credits is on her Variety executive profile. For more hosts and how they earn, see our TV host net worth profiles.
What businesses does Tyra Banks own?
Banks has spent much of the past decade building businesses beyond TV. Her holding company has included Bankable Productions, the cosmetics line Tyra Beauty and ModelLand, a modeling-themed attraction that opened in Santa Monica, California, in 2019.
Her newest venture is Smize & Dream, an ice cream brand named after her famous catchphrase. It has run pop-up shops in several countries, and in December 2025 its viral “hot ice cream” came to New York City. Pop-ups are a low-risk way to test a food brand: they cost less than a permanent store, draw crowds through social media and show which cities have enough demand for something longer term. Banks is also developing films through her company, now known as SMiZE Productions. In late 2025, it was developing a feature about the beauty brand Sally Hansen, and in October 2026 she was reported to be producing a film about the invention of the sports bra with Forbes Entertainment.
Her business education supports this side of her career. She completed the Owner/President Management program at Harvard Business School in 2012.
How does Tyra Banks compare with other supermodels?
Banks is one of the richest models of her generation, and the reason is ownership. Many famous models from the 1990s earned large fees at their peak, but few built companies that kept paying after their runway years ended.
Today’s top models follow a similar playbook. Kendall Jenner, for example, topped Forbes’s list of the highest-paid models in 2018 with an estimated $22.5 million, and then started her own tequila brand. The pattern is the same one Banks used: use modeling fame to build something you own. The difference is that Banks did it through television, at a time when very few models had tried.
What can you learn from how Tyra Banks built her wealth?
Her career offers a few clear lessons that apply far beyond fashion:
- Own the format, not just the role. Creating Top Model paid her far more than any single modeling contract.
- Stack income streams. For five years she earned from two TV shows at once, plus endorsements.
- Turn your brand into products. Words like “smize” became the name of a business.
- Keep learning. She went back to school at Harvard Business School while she was already famous.
Not every venture has been a hit, and some have been short-lived. But spreading her bets has kept the Tyra Banks net worth estimate high long after her peak TV years.
What was ModelLand?
ModelLand was a modeling-themed attraction that Banks opened at the Santa Monica Place mall in 2019. Visitors could get styled, walk a runway and take part in a professional-style photo shoot, so it turned the Top Model experience into something fans could pay for in person. It was one of her most ambitious attempts to sell the world of her show directly to the public, and it showed how far she wanted to stretch the brand beyond TV.
What books has Tyra Banks written?
Banks has also earned money as an author. Her young adult novel Modelland was published in 2011 and later inspired the name of her Santa Monica attraction. In 2018, she co-wrote Perfect Is Boring with her mother, Carolyn London, a book about confidence and growing up in the spotlight. Book income is small next to her TV pay, but it keeps her brand in front of new audiences.
What happened with the Netflix Top Model documentary?
In February 2026, Netflix released Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, a three-part docuseries about the show’s history. Banks took part in an interview for the series. In June 2026, she filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix and the series’ producers, saying her interview was edited in a misleading way. Netflix filed a motion to dismiss the case in August 2026. The case had not been decided at the time of writing, so its effect on her finances is unknown.
How has Tyra Banks’s net worth changed over time?
Her wealth grew in three clear stages. The 1990s were her modeling years, which paid well and made her famous. From 2003 to 2010, she owned and hosted two TV shows at once and earned up to $30 million a year. Since then, her income has come from hosting jobs, production deals and her own brands.
Each stage built on the last. Her fame as a model sold Top Model, and Top Model gave her the money and name to launch businesses. To compare her with other stars in her field, browse our reality TV and model net worth profiles, including Natalie Nunn, who also built her own franchise, or our full celebrity net worth list.
Conclusion
Tyra Banks’s net worth is estimated at about $90 million in 2026. She started as one of the top models of the 1990s, then made most of her money by creating, producing and hosting America’s Next Top Model and The Tyra Banks Show, earning up to $30 million in a single year. Today she adds income from hosting, film producing and her ice cream brand, Smize & Dream.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Tyra Banks worth?
Tyra Banks is worth an estimated $90 million in 2026. Most of her wealth comes from creating and hosting America’s Next Top Model, her daytime talk show and her modeling career, with more from her businesses and production deals.
How much did Tyra Banks make from America’s Next Top Model?
Her exact pay is private, but Forbes estimated her total earnings at about $23 million and then $30 million a year in 2008 and 2009, when Top Model and her talk show were both on the air. She earned as host, producer and creator.
Is America’s Next Top Model coming back?
No new season has been confirmed. In February 2026, Banks said she was open to a possible Cycle 25, around the release of the Netflix docuseries about the show. The last cycle aired in 2018 on VH1.
What is Smize and Dream?
Smize & Dream is an ice cream brand founded by Tyra Banks and named after her “smize” catchphrase. It has run pop-up shops in several countries, including a New York City pop-up in December 2025 that featured its viral hot ice cream.
How old is Tyra Banks?
Tyra Banks was born on December 4, 1973, in Inglewood, California, which makes her 52 years old in late 2026. She turns 53 in December 2026. She began modeling as a teenager and moved to Paris at 17 to start her runway career.
