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Gisele Bundchen Tops the List of Highest-Paid Models for 15 Years Running

Gisele Bundchen
Gisele Bundchen scored the No. 1 spot on Forbes’ list of top-earning models for the 15th year in a row — with Kendall Jenner close on her heels! Han Myung-Gu/WireImage

She’s still got it! While up-and-coming models Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid are certainly making bank, one of the greatest of all time is still sitting pretty in the No. 1 spot on Forbes‘ list of top-earning models: Gisele Bündchen.

Though she announced her retirement from the runway last year, the Brazilian bombshell, 36, continues to rake it in more than anyone else in her field — as this has been so since 2002. Thanks to deals with Chanel, Carolina Herrera and Stuart Weitzman, to name just a few, the former Victoria’s Secret Angel made $30.5 million over the past year.

PHOTOS: Supermodels, Then and Now

But the new guard is catching up! While Bünchen’s runner-up is Adriana Lima, scoring second place with a $10.5 million paycheck, Jenner, who covers Vogue‘s coveted September issue for 2016, came in third thanks to her contracts with Estée Lauder, Fendi, Marc Jacobs and Topshop. Her net total? $10 million — more than double her 2015 earnings of $4 million.

Kendall Jenner
Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid rank at Nos. 3 and 5, respectively, in ‘Forbes’ list of top-earning models. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

Chris Gay, who as president of the Society Management represents Jenner, explained the unique appeal of the social media darling. “Our business has changed,” he told Forbes. “These models [have] become more and more influential because they are the conduits of media — not only somebody who can be the face of the campaign, but a powerful means to distribute it.”

PHOTOS: Gigi and Bella Hadid, Model Sisters

Right behind Jenner is her BFF, Hadid, who made $9 million in 2016 working with Tommy Hilfiger (her first capsule with the brand drops in September!) and Maybelline. She shares the fifth spot with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who, like Cara Delevingne in seventh, are not only modeling these days but acting too. (Huntington-Whiteley had a role in the 2015 Oscar contender Mad Max: Fury Road, while Delevingne starred in this summer’s Suicide Squad.)

Karlie Kloss, Candice Swanepoel, Liu Wen and Miranda Kerr round out the top 10 earners on the list.

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