How Naomi Campbell Achieved a Net Worth of $60 Million
Naomi Campbell is a British model, actress, and businesswoman. Although she has made money in several fields, she is best known for her modeling and was one of six models described as supermodels during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her status made her one of the most in-demand models of that time. Here is how Naomi Campbell became one of the most successful models in the world and achieved a net worth of $60 million.
Campbell’s Early Life
Naomi Campbell was born in London on May 22, 1970. According to Wikipedia, her mother is Valerie Morris, a Jamaican-born dancer. Campbell has not met her father as he left her mother while she was pregnant. She took her surname from her stepfather. Although she was born in England, Campbell spent some of her childhood in Italy, where her mother was working as a dancer. She then lived with relatives in London while her mother traveled around Europe for her work. When she was 10, Naomi Campbell became a student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.
The Early Years of Her Career
Campbell was scouted by Beth Boldt, the head of the Synchro Model Agency, while out shopping. At that time, she was just 15, and still a student of Italia Conti. Before turning 16, she had already appeared on the cover of the British version of ‘Elle.’ Her career took off quickly, and she was soon in demand. In the early years, she walked the catwalk for designers, including Isaac Mizrahi, Azzedine Alaia, and Gianni Versace. She also posed for some of the top photographers in the world. In the late 1980s, Campbell was one of the three most famous models in the world. The other two were Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington. These three models were often referred to as ‘The Trinity.’ One of Campbell’s greatest accolades during the early years of her career was appearing on the cover of Vogue in 1987. She was the first black woman to do so since 1966. A year later, she became the first black woman to appear on the cover of French Vogue. According to her official website, she was also the first black woman to appear on the covers of TIME and Russian Vogue.
Continued Success and International Fame
The model’s fame continued to rise, and she became one of what was known as ‘The Big Six.’ Along with Campbell, The Big Six included Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, and Kate Moss. Although she was enjoying huge amounts of professional and financial success, there were some darker moments in Campbell’s career. Most significantly, she was fired by Elite Model Management in 1987. The reason given for her firing was Campbell’s alleged difficult and manipulative behavior.
During the late 1990s, Campbell continued to work on the catwalks and in print. She also signed her first cosmetics contract in 1999 with Cosmopolitan Cosmetics. Over the next decade, some of her career highlights included walking the runway for the Dior 60th anniversary show in Versailles and appearing in the landmark all-black issues of Italian Vogue. While many models find their career comes to an end when they turn 30, the opposite was true for Naomi Campbell has she has continued to walk the catwalk, appear in print, and to endorse various cosmetic and fashion products. She has appeared in advertising campaigns for brands including Chloe, Versace, Burberry, Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, Luis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, La Perla, Avon, Victoria’s Secret, and many more.
Other Ventures
Campbell has an eponymous perfume house that she established in 1999. Since then, she has released 25 women’s fragrances under the Proctor & Gamble brand. The first was simply called ‘Naomi Campbell’, and perfumer Ursula Wandel created it. Her most recent fragrance releases were ‘Glam Rouge’ and ‘Pret a Porter Absolute Velvet,’ which were both released in 2018.
Naomi Campbell has released four books. The first of these was ‘Swan’ in 1994, followed by ‘Top Model’ in the same year. She then published ‘Naomi’ in 1996. Her most recent book was ‘Naomi Campbell’, which was released in 2016. Although she is best known for her modeling and links to the fashion and cosmetic industries, Naomi Campbell has also worked in several entertainment industry areas. During the 1990s, she had a secondary career as a singer. Her first step into the music industry was featuring on Vanilla Ice’s 1991 single ‘Cool as Ice (Everybody Get Loose).’
As a solo artist, she released two singles in 1994: ‘Love and Tears’ and ‘I Want to Live.’ In the same year, she released her debut album titled ‘Baby Woman.’ Unfortunately, this had only limited success and peaked at number 75 on the UK album charts. Prior to her singing career, Campbell had appeared in music videos when she was a child. At the age of seven in 1978, she appeared in the music video for Bob Marley’s single ‘Is This Love.’ Four years later, she tap-danced in the video for Culture Club’s single ‘I’ll Tumble 4 Ya.’
Campbell has also appeared in multiple films, television series, and documentaries. In total, she has appeared in 11 documentaries between 1991 and 2006. Her first television acting job was in 1978 when she played Snow White in ‘The Chiffy Kids.’ Some of her most recent television work was playing the recurring role of Camilla Marks in ‘Empire’ in eight episodes between 2015 and 2016 and playing the recurring role of Rose Crane in five episodes of ‘Star’ between 2017 and 2019.In film, her first role was playing a singer in the 1991 film ‘Cool as Ice.’ Some other films in which she has appeared include ‘Invasion of Privacy,’ ‘Karma Aur Holi,’ ‘Zoolander 2’, and ‘I Feel Pretty.’ Most recently, she has appeared as herself in the 2020 film ‘Black Is King’.
Naomi Campbell’s Net Worth
According to Wealthy Gorilla, Naomi Campbell’s net worth is $60 million. She has earned this money predominantly through her work as a model and for endorsing products. However, she has also made money from her own lines of fragrances and appearing in film, television, and music videos.
Her Personal Life
Although Naomi Campbell has never been married or had children, she has had multiple high-profile relationships. Her first high-profile relationship was with U2 bassist U2. The couple met in early 1993 and became engaged later in the same year. However, their engagement was short-lived, and they separated the following year. Campbell briefly dated Leonardo DiCaprio before having a five-year relationship with Formula One racing head Flavio Briatore between 1998 and 2003. Her next serious relationship was with Russian businessman Vladislav Doronin from 2008 until 2013. Other famous people with whom Campbell has had relationships include Liam Payne, Skepta, Usher, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Robert De Niro, and businessman Hassan Jameel.