The Year's Savviest Celebrity Businesswomen

Other stars make the list for pure business grit: Supermodel Gisele Bundchen, whose line of Brazilian sandals has sold over 100 million pairs, reportedly began demanding that her modeling clients pay her in euros, not the shrinking dollar. And Madonna, who debuted her collection at H&M this year, struck one of the best deals of her always-savvy career: a $120 million pact with concert promoter Live Nation.

Banks and her appropriately named Bankable Productions have been busy over the past few years. The former model saw her fortunes rise as she morphed from model to mogul, as producer of two highly rated TV shows: an eponymous daytime talk show and the reality smash America's Next Top Model. But that is hardly the pinnacle for the ambitious beauty from Los Angeles. In October, Banks signed a multiyear deal with Warner Brothers to create and produce prime-time TV shows, both scripted and reality-based, as well as feature films, and a direct-to-DVD series based on the best-selling Clique series of books for teens. Expect Banks' estimated $18 million a year earnings to keep pace with her output.