Tyra Banks Was Once Advised to Spend More Money

From Good Housekeeping

Tyra Banks is known for many things, like being the brand new host and an executive producer of Dancing With the Stars, creator of America’s Next Top Model, or a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model (today known as “BanX”).

But if you stop to think about it, Tyra has done so much more. She’s starred in movies, hosted her own TV show (and, ahem, won two Daytime Emmys for it), wrote three books, strutted down runways all over the globe – she’s kind of a huge deal.

Considering her tremendous success, it makes sense that all of Tyra’s hard work and talent has amounted to quite a hefty amount of money over the years. Ready for this number? According to Celebrity Net Worth, Tyra has an estimated net worth of $90 million as of 2020.

Tyra’s growing success:

Of course, the model’s net worth hasn’t always been so high. In the beginning of her career, the 46-year-old worked for some of the world’s most prominent modeling companies while still in high school. She walked runways left and right and booked an impressive 25 shows for Paris Fashion Week in 1991, an unprecedented number for a fashion newcomer. Not bad for just starting out, huh?

But where Tyra really made her bank (get it?) was her acting work. As she got involved in many — and we mean many — projects in the late ’90s and early 2000s, her net worth gradually climbed to what it is today. Most notably, Tyra is known for starring in ’90s classics like Life Size and Coyote Ugly and making several TV show appearances, including on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Gossip Girl, and Glee. And as host of The Tyra Banks Show from 2005 to 2010, Tyra reportedly earned about $18 million a year.

In the reality TV space, Tyra has also soared. She created and hosted the immensely popular America’s Next Top Model series, which became UPN‘s highest-rated show for the first six seasons.

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Other impressive bragging points include launching her TYRA Beauty cosmetics line, becoming the first African-American woman to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, and taking over for Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews on Dancing With the Stars.

How she spends it:

So, what does one with a net worth of $90 million do with it all? Well, in Tyra’s case she actually chooses not to spend a lot of it. In an interview with Time Money in 2018, Tyra reportedly was quick to point out just how frugal she really is.

“I saved saved saved. But I saved to a fault,” she explains. “About 15 years ago, my accountants pulled me aside, and they were like,’Tyra, you’re not spending money. Nothing. You’re just giving it away to the government. You need to spend some damn money.’”

Eventually Tyra and her accountants started an “F Account,” which stands for “frivolous account,” where she began allocating some of her income for, well, frivolity. Her splurge of choice? Private planes, apparently.

“In hindsight, I should have bought art and things that appreciated,” she said. “I was getting private planes, nothing to show for it. It was a private-plane kinda moment for me.”

Tyra’s “F Account” aside, we’re willing to bet a good chunk of her income is spent on her precious 4-year-old son York (pictured above), who she had via surrogate with her then-boyfriend Erik Asala. Although the pair split in October of 2017, People reports that the two still share parenting duties.

We have no doubt Little York is going to continue living a very glamorous life — just like his mega-talented mama.

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