The Year's Savviest Celebrity Businesswomen
From Jennifer Aniston to Heidi Klum, these women made millions in 2007.
Dec. 31, 2007 Special to ABCNEWS.com — -- Jennifer Aniston picked up $10 million for shilling water. Sandra Bullock banked double that for selling George Lopez into reruns. Gisele Bundchen, Tyra Banks and Madonna all made millions cashing in on the most important asset they own: themselves.
"Celebrities are realizing that they themselves are the brand," says Ryan Schinman, an entertainment consultant who has negotiated corporate deals with hundreds of celebrities, including Madonna with Motorola and Jessica Simpson with DirecTV. "Any time you can have a stake in a company, you are going to work harder to make it successful. It's more than just, 'Hey, we're putting you in a commercial.' "
Click here to the year's savviest celebrity businesswomen at our partner site, Forbes.com.
Aniston wins the best-timing award, grabbing an equity stake in Glacéau just before the company was sold to Coca-Cola for $4.1 billion in May. In exchange, Aniston glowed in ads for a product, SmartWater, that she was previously paying retail to drink. It's estimated that Aniston banked at least $10 million for this deal, including stock.
Aniston isn't the only star with superb timing. Sandra Bullock, who discovered Latino comedian George Lopez playing to a small club in Brea, Calif. in 2000 and promptly set to work fashioning a sitcom around him, saw her investment pay off big time when the show was sold into syndication in April. The timing couldn't have been better, as the series was canceled shortly thereafter. Bullock stands to eventually pocket $20 million from the sale.
Many of the women on the list--Kimora Lee Simmons, Jessica Simpson, Kate Moss, Sarah Jessica Parker and Heidi Klum--have taken the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen route to fortune, partnering with large companies to create lines of clothes, accessories, shoes, makeup, perfumes and jewelry. Even a star whose career seems to be on the wane, such as Jessica Simpson, can still move product in a department store.
But with that extra responsibility comes extra risk. The blame for a poorly performing film or album can be shared with directors, writers, producers--even the marketing team. An eponymous line of perfume or clothing that does not sell will reflect on no one but the celebrity.
