Tyra Banks has an estimated net worth of $90 million, built across three decades as a supermodel, television producer, author, and entrepreneur. Born in Inglewood, California, Banks transformed an early modeling career into a media empire anchored by ownership stakes in her own productions — a strategy that separated her from peers who earned talent fees while studios collected the real profits.
Updated March 2026: According to Forbes, Banks earned approximately $30 million in a single cycle of America’s Next Top Model at the show’s peak in 2009, making her one of the highest-paid women in television production during that era. Her estimated $90 million net worth reflects cumulative earnings from modeling, television, and her expanding portfolio of consumer brands.
Tyra Lynne Banks was born on December 4, 1973, in Inglewood, California, to Donald Banks, a computer consultant, and Carolyn London, a medical photographer. Her parents divorced in 1979. She has one older brother, Devin. Banks has described being teased as a child when she grew rapidly at age 11, gaining several inches and losing significant weight in a short period — an experience she later channeled into advocacy against body-image pressures in the modeling industry. Her heritage is approximately 79% African, 14% European, and 6% Native American.
Banks attended Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1991. She was accepted to the London School of Economics but deferred enrollment after being signed to Elite Model Management at age 16. She later pursued business education formally, completing Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management program in 2012 and earning a certificate related to her Tyra Beauty venture from Harvard in 2014.
Banks was rejected by four modeling agencies before Elite Model Management signed her in 1989. She began her career in Paris, where she booked 25 shows in a single fashion week — a feat that was unusual for a Black model in European fashion at the time. She returned to Los Angeles in 1991 and by 1993 had secured a CoverGirl cosmetics contract and became the first Black woman to appear on the cover of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue as a solo cover.
From 1997 to 2005, Banks served as a Victoria’s Secret Angel, one of the brand’s highest-profile ambassadors, reportedly earning $10 million in total from that relationship. In 1997, VH1 named her Model of the Year. At the peak of her modeling career in 2004 and 2005, Forbes ranked her among the top five highest-earning models globally, with annual earnings of $4 million and $6 million respectively in those years.
Banks created America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) in 2003, serving simultaneously as host, executive producer, and the show’s primary judge. The series ran for 24 cycles across UPN and The CW through 2018. By structuring herself as executive producer and format owner — not merely host — Banks retained equity in international adaptations of the show across more than 130 countries. The Tyra Banks Show ran from 2005 to 2010, earning two Daytime Emmy Awards. Banks hosted America’s Got Talent in 2017 and Dancing with the Stars from 2020 to 2022.
In February 2026, Netflix released Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, a three-part documentary examining ANTM’s 15-year run, including its controversies. Banks participated as an interview subject — notably without creative control or compensation — according to the documentary’s executive producers. The New York Times reported that the series became Netflix’s most-watched program in its debut week.
Banks has one son, York Banks Asla, born January 27, 2016, via surrogacy with her then-partner Erik Asla, a Norwegian photographer. Banks and Asla split in 2017. York was born three weeks premature and required a short stay in a neonatal intensive care unit, an experience Banks has described publicly as frightening.
Since approximately 2019, Banks has been in a relationship with Louis Bélanger-Martin, a Canadian entrepreneur who serves as the CFO of SMiZE Cream. The two have maintained a largely private relationship. Banks has never married.
In January 2025, Banks’s Pacific Palisades home was destroyed in the Los Angeles wildfires that swept through the area. Following the loss, she relocated to Sydney, Australia, where she has made her primary residence as of early 2026. Banks has spoken publicly about her decision not to drink alcohol or use drugs, and has been candid about experiencing abusive relationships earlier in her adult life.
Tyra Banks’s net worth is estimated at $90 million as of 2026. The majority of her wealth was built through ownership stakes in television productions — particularly America’s Next Top Model — rather than modeling fees alone. Forbes documented her earning approximately $30 million in a single ANTM cycle at the show’s peak.
The largest single source of Banks’s wealth was her role as creator and executive producer of America’s Next Top Model, which gave her equity in format rights licensed to more than 130 countries. Her modeling career with Victoria’s Secret and CoverGirl, her talk show The Tyra Banks Show, and her Bankable Productions company provided additional income streams. Real estate investments in Los Angeles contributed to her overall net worth.
Yes. Banks has one son, York Banks Asla, born January 27, 2016, via surrogacy. York’s biological father is Banks’s former partner Erik Asla, a Norwegian photographer. Banks and Asla ended their relationship in 2017. York has appeared occasionally in public with Banks, though she has generally kept him out of media coverage.