The Incredible Life Of Kathy Ireland, The World's Richest Supermodel

If you only know Kathy Ireland from her famous 1989 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover photo, you'd be surprised to hear that the supermodel long ago hung up her bikini to become a businesswoman. 

A very successful businesswoman, whose company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide, is worth around $350 million, according to Dorothy Pomerantz in a big profile of Ireland in the latest issue of Forbes. 

Celebrity Net Worth recently declared her to be the richest supermodel on the planet, beating out Gisele Bündchen and Cindy Crawford.

Ireland's company, which now designs and licenses products for "busy moms," including furniture, fans, rugs, flooring, has gone through several permutations since 1993. And it'll likely go through many more as it grows.

Kathy Ireland Worldwide, which raked in $1.9 billion in merchandising fees in 2010, is worth around $100 million more than Martha Stewart's holdings in her company. That's a big deal.

In 1980, at the age of 16, the Elite Modeling Agency discovers Ireland at a finishing school.

Source: Forbes

Ireland appears in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in 1984 for the first time, and is featured on the cover in 1989, making it the magazine's best-selling issue ever.

Source: Forbes

In 1993, after marketer John Moretz asks Ireland if she would like to model socks, Ireland instead proposes that the two go into business together selling Kathy Ireland socks.

Source: Forbes

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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• PHOTOS: Here's What You Missed During The First 2 Days Of New York Fashion Week

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/sportspage/~3/fnPgS5Rg2Ko/kathy-ireland-career-2012-2

Dustin Kohn Andrew McDonald Matt Martin Frans Nielsen Dwayne Roloson Jon Sim