Philip DeFranco
$20 Million
Kimora Lee Simmons’s net worth is estimated at $20 million. Born Kimora Lee Perkins in St. Louis, Missouri, she is a fashion designer, television personality, and former model who built Baby Phat — the women’s streetwear spinoff of the Phat Fashions empire — into a brand that generated $265 million in profits at its 2002 peak and commanded a valuation of approximately $1 billion before being sold for $140 million in 2004. A Tony Award winner, television star, and resilient entrepreneur, she launched a Baby Phat revival in 2019 and premiered a new reality series in late 2025.
Updated March 2026: According to Forbes, Kimora Lee Simmons remains an active entrepreneur and television personality as of early 2026, with the debut of her reality series Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane on E!/Bravo in December 2025. Her net worth is estimated at approximately $20 million.
Kimora Lee Perkins was born on May 4, 1975, in St. Louis, Missouri, to a Japanese-American mother, Joanne, and an African-American father, Vernon Perkins. Her biracial background contributed to her striking appearance, standing 6 feet tall with facial features that confounded racial categorization — qualities that initially made it difficult for her to find representation in mainstream American modeling. At age 13, she was signed to Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld after he spotted her in Paris, becoming one of the youngest models the house had ever signed. She subsequently appeared in campaigns for major luxury brands and walked runways in New York, Paris, and Milan throughout her teens and early twenties, appearing on the covers of international editions of Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar.
In 1998, Kimora married hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam Recordings. The following year she launched Baby Phat, initially conceived as the women’s line within Russell’s Phat Fashions umbrella brand. Under her creative direction, Baby Phat became the dominant women’s urban fashion brand of the early 2000s, reaching $265 million in profits in 2002. The broader Phat Fashions portfolio was sold to Kellwood Company for $140 million in 2004, with Kimora staying on as president and creative director of Baby Phat. She divorced Russell Simmons in 2009. From 2011 to 2015, she served as president of JustFab, an online fashion subscription service. She relaunched Baby Phat as an independent brand in 2019, partnering with Target for a capsule collection and selling through her own e-commerce channels. Her production company holds interests in several fragrance and cosmetics licensing deals. She attended the Fifteen Percent Pledge Gala in February 2026. She was also a producer on the Broadway production of Def Poetry Jam, which won the Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event in 2003.
Kimora Lee Simmons has been married twice. She married hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons in 1998; they divorced in 2009 and have two daughters together, Ming Lee Simmons (born 2000) and Aoki Lee Simmons (born 2002). In a later relationship with actor Djimon Hounsou, she had son Kenzo Lee Hounsou (born 2009). She married Tim Leissner, a former Goldman Sachs banker, in 2014; the couple have a son, Wolfe Lee Leissner, and she adopted a fifth child, Gary. She and Leissner separated in 2022. Kimora’s public dispute with ex-husband Russell Simmons over family matters and business interests resurfaced publicly in December 2025. She resides at her Beverly Park estate in Beverly Hills, California.
Kimora Lee Simmons’s net worth is estimated at approximately $20 million as of 2026. Her fortune is anchored by the $140 million sale of Phat Fashions in 2004, her $25 million Beverly Park estate in Beverly Hills, and ongoing income from Baby Phat licensing, television, and brand investments. Her net worth is substantially lower than her peak given expenditures from multiple households and business ventures over two decades.
Kimora Lee Simmons was married to Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam Recordings and one of the most influential figures in hip-hop’s commercial expansion, from 1998 to 2009. Together they have daughters Ming Lee and Aoki Lee Simmons. Russell Simmons has faced serious sexual misconduct allegations from multiple women, which he has denied; he relocated to Bali following the allegations in 2017. Kimora and Russell’s public dispute over stocks and family matters made news again in December 2025.
Kimora Lee Simmons was born on May 4, 1975, in St. Louis, Missouri, making her 50 years old as of March 2026. She was signed to Chanel at age 13 and began her fashion entrepreneurship career in her mid-twenties with Baby Phat.
Kimora Lee Simmons stands 6 feet tall (1.83 m), a height that distinguished her on runways during her modeling career and contributed to Karl Lagerfeld’s decision to sign her to Chanel at age 13. Her height and biracial heritage were initially obstacles in the American modeling market before becoming defining attributes of her international career.
Kimora Lee Simmons has five children. With Russell Simmons, she has daughters Ming Lee (born 2000) and Aoki Lee (born 2002). With actor Djimon Hounsou, she has son Kenzo Lee Hounsou (born 2009). With Tim Leissner, she has son Wolfe Lee Leissner. She also adopted a fifth child, Gary.
Baby Phat was a women’s urban fashion brand launched by Kimora Lee Simmons in 1999 as the female counterpart to Russell Simmons’s Phat Farm label. At its commercial peak in 2002, the brand generated $265 million in profits and commanded a market valuation of approximately $1 billion. The parent company, Phat Fashions, was sold to Kellwood Company for $140 million in 2004. Kimora relaunched Baby Phat as an independent brand in 2019, partnering with Target for distribution and tapping into 2000s nostalgia-driven consumer demand.