Gisele Bündchen

Brazilian model and actress Gisele Caroline Bündchen was born July 20, 1980 in the Brazilian town of Três de Maio and grew up in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul.According to Forbes, she is the highest-paid model in the world and also the sixteenth richest woman in the entertainment world,Bündchen also acts as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. with an estimated $150 million fortune.

After a stint in a modeling class, Gisele Bundchen would get the last laugh during a 1994 field trip to Sao Paulo where she was approached by modeling reps from Elite. After a second-place finish in the Brazilian installment of the Elite Look of the Year competition in 1995, Gisele Bundchen made the top five in the world version, and left for New York City in 1996.

Since her debut, Bündchen has been the face of a variety of advertising campaigns including several seasons of Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Mervyn’s, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Versace, Givenchy, Bvlgari, Lanvin, Guerlain, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Earl Jean, Zara, Chloé, Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton and Victoria’s Secret. She has appeared in advertisements for Nivea lotion and is the face of several Brazilian brands including Vivo, Multiplan (Shopping Malls), Colcci, Credicard (Citibank) and Volkswagen do Brasil. After C&A Brazil hired Bündchen as a spokesmodel and began airing television commercials, sales increased by 30%.In addition to closing in Paris for Galliano and Valentino, she became only the fourth model to grace the cover of Rolling Stone. Naturally, industry stalwart Victoria’s Secret snatched her up to become a Victoria’s Secret Angel.

She has her own line of sandals with footwear company Grendene called Ipanema Gisele Bündchen. Forbes puts her 53rd on their list of the most powerful celebrities of 2007 because of the international success of her shoe line, making the brand Ipanema the most sold Brazilian flip-flop in the world, surpassing the legendary Havaianas.In 2004, Bündchen entered the film industry, playing the bank robbers’ leader, Vanessa, in the 2004 remake Taxi. In 2006, she played a minor character in The Devil Wears Prada.

In July 2007, having earned an estimated total of $33 million in the past 12 months, Forbes magazine named her the world’s top-earning model in the list of the World’s 15 Top-Earning Supermodels.On 26 August 2008, the New York Daily News, in a list, named Bündchen the fourth-most-powerful person in the fashion world.