Before landing a lucrative deal with Victoria’s Secret, Heidi Klum was already a well-established model in the fashion industry, after winning a German modeling contest back in 1992.
She accepted the $300,000 contract issued by CEO of Metropolitan Models New York, Thomas Zeumer, soon after she graduated from school, and though she initially planned to find an apprenticeship at a fashion design college, Klum had already made bigger plans for herself.
Five years after becoming a model, Klum, who was once married to singer Seal, made another breakthrough in her career when she was approached to walk for Victoria’s Secret annual fashion show in 1997, where she joined the likes of Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks, who’ve all modeled the brand’s apparel.
How Did Her Deal With Victoria’s Secret Come About?
In 1997, after having already fronted several major fashion campaigns and endorsement deals, Klum’s career reached new heights when she was approached for a deal with Victoria’s Secret.
At the time, the 47-year-old had no idea how long the partnership with VS would last, but she certainly didn’t hesitate at the opportunity, making her runway debut for the firm later just months later.
Signing with Victoria’s Secret made Klum the first German model to become an angel for the fashion company, which was an impressive feat in itself, but that only appeared to be the beginning for what was yet to come for the mother-of-four.
Her fame from her inclusion in the annual fashion show would propel her to become one of the most sought-after models as she graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1998.
To date, Klum has also been featured on the cover of Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, and Glamour, just to name a few.
While modeling was her day-to-day job, producers of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show appeared to like Klum’s bubbly personality enough to make her the host of the annual occurrence in 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
After 13 years with the firm, however, Klum announced she was retiring from her duties as an Angel to focus on other business ventures.
In an official statement released in October 2010, she told the New York Post: “All good things have to come to an end. I will always love Victoria's Secret. It has been an absolutely amazing time.”
How Has She Continued To Make Her Money?
Someone like Heidi Klum didn’t necessarily need the lengthy partnership with Victoria’s Secret to continue making the big bucks in the fashion industry, but it was still a substantial source of income, nonetheless.
Since 2006, Klum has been the host and executive producer of the Tyra Banks-created hit show Germany’s Next Top Model, which has already entered its 15th series, with over 200 episodes under his belt.
In 2013, she then went on to join Howard Stern, Mel B, and Howie Mandel as a judge on America’s Got Talent - a position she held up until 2018 before taking a two-year hiatus.
She returned to the family show in May 2020 for its 15th season, and she’s certainly making a lot of money to sit on the judging panel again.
It’s believed that Klum earns around $100,000 per episode on AGT, which is surprisingly less than Mandel, who reportedly brings in $70,000 per episode.
Klum also hosted the popular reality series Project Runway from 2004 to 2017, a competition show which sees designers of all kinds create a series of clothes under a limited amount of time.
Karlie Kloss has since taken over Klum’s position after the supermodel’s exit, but that was after the latter and her former cast and crew had scooped up her Emmy win for Outstanding Picture Editing for Reality Programming. She won another Emmy in 2013 for Outstanding Host for a Reality-Competition Program.
Despite her busy career, the blonde bombshell also had time to pen an autobiography in 2004, titled Heidi Klum’s Body of Knowledge: 8 Rules of Model Behavior, which only added to her growing fortune - but now she was also a best-selling author, making her quite the business-savvy entrepreneur.
Her producing credentials include Models of the Runway, Seriously Funny Kids, After the Runway, and Project Runway: All-Star Challenge.
Klum has also had a few cameos in movies such as Blow Dry, Sex and the City, Zoolander, How I Met Your Mother, and Parks and Recreation, showing yet again that she’s a woman who can quite literally do it all.
Some of her recent endorsement deals have seen her partner with Dannon, H&M, McDonald’s, Volkswagen, Hillside Candy, and Mattel, which are all still pulling in millions of dollars in revenue for the German fashion mogul.