22 Little Known Trivia Facts About Gisele Bundchen

How the world’s top supermodel transcended the runway and put herself on the route to extraordinary riches.

22 Facts About Gisele Bundchen and Her Path to Billionairedom

Gisele Bundchen is one of the most celebrated, sought-after models in the world, but her early days couldn’t have predicted her success. She was bullied at school for being tall and skinny, and didn’t get much attention at parties. Even when she started modeling as a teenager, she was rejected by several agencies because her “eyes were too small” and her “nose was too big.”

Well, didn’t she prove them wrong? Today, she’s the perfect example of how hard work and dedication — and, let’s face it, a beautiful face and body, whatever the naysayers said — paid off. Bundchen is more than a legendary supermodel; she’s become one of the world’s most lucrative brands. Here’s how she did it.

She Started Young

Brazilian-born Bundchen started her modeling career young –– she was a teenager when she was spotted by an agent at a fast-food restaurant, and started working in her home country before making her New York Fashion Week debut in 1996, at the age of 16.

Her First Big Break

In 1997, Bundchen moved to New York City to throw herself into the modeling world. One of her first big breaks came when Alexander McQueen chose her for his runway show. She made her international debut when she walked for his Spring/Summer 1998 show in London (pictured), and she never looked back.

British Vogue Came Calling

When she was only 18, Bundchen secured her first British Vogue cover, wearing Versace on the August 1998 issue. That year, she also fronted high profile campaigns for some of the world’s biggest fashion houses, including Missoni, Chloe, Versace and Dolce and Gabbana, and walked the runway for some of the hottest designers of the time, including Jean Paul Gaultier.

Model of the Year

In December 1999, Bundchen collected the Model of the Year award at the VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards in New York. A few months later, in 2000, she became one of the highest-paid models in the world when she signed a $25 million deal with lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret. The same year, she was hailed “the most beautiful girl in the world” by Rolling Stone magazine.

She Wasn’t as Confident as She Seemed

Bundchen always seemed to be the epitome of body confidence on the runway, whether she was wearing sheer mesh for Valentino in 2000 or a $15 million “Fantasy Bra” at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show in November 2001. But behind the scenes, she was suffering from debilitating panic attacks.

She told PORTER magazine that she felt extremely anxious as her career took off, but didn’t feel that she could confide in anyone. “I thought maybe I don’t have the right, everybody is going through so many difficult things in the world, and I don’t have the right to feel this way,” she said. “So I suppressed it, and the more I suppressed it, the bigger it became.”

She Made Drastic Lifestyle Changes to Improve Her Mental Health

Bundchen sought medical advice to help her overcome panic attacks, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, but decided not to take medication. Instead, she made major lifestyle changes: cutting sugar, alcohol and caffeine from her diet; quitting smoking; spending as much time as possible outdoors; cutting back on her work commitments; and incorporating yoga and meditation (including several-day silent retreats) into her schedule.

She Became the Runway’s Top Earner

By 2004, Bundchen was the highest-paid model in the world, holding the top spot on the Forbes list for 15 consecutive years –– until she was overtaken by Kendall Jenner in 2017.

The Power of Discipline

She credits her success to hard work and discipline. “I don’t know how I would have achieved anything in my life if I didn’t have discipline,” she told PORTER magazine. “Discipline is my best friend!”

She Tried to Make It in Movies

Like many other models, she tried to make the transition from the runway to the silver screen, starring in the 2004 comedy “Taxi” with Jimmy Fallon and Queen Latifah. It wasn’t a hit, but Bundchen had more luck with a small role as a bitchy fashion assistant (left) in the 2006 box office hit “The Devil Wears Prada” with Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep.

Apparently, she agreed to be in the movie on the condition that she didn’t play a model.

She Hung Up Her Angel Wings

Bundchen stopped working with Victoria’s Secret in 2007, revealing in her book “Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life,” that “for the first five years, I felt comfortable modeling in lingerie, but as time went on, I felt less and less at ease being photographed walking the runway wearing just a bikini or a thing. Give me a tail, a cape, wings –– please, anything to cover me up a little!”

She’s Dedicated to Causes She Cares About

In 2008, Bundchen planted the first tree in a Brazilian forest named after her. In May 2019, she shared a throwback pic of the occasion to her Instagram account, with a caption declaring how “proud” she was of the Gisele Bundchen forest. “To recover 15 hectares of Atlantic Forest, we planted 25,500 seedlings, which included 100 different species,” she wrote. “Our goal was to improve the water quality of the rivers and lakes in the region of Campinas and Bahia. The Atlantic Forest is rich in biodiversity but is currently one of the most endangered biomes on the planet.”

She Earned Her ‘Activist Icon’ Title

Bundchen, who was named an “activist icon” by Elle Spain, has also planted trees in Nairobi’s Kibera and helps detoxify the river near Horizontina, her hometown in Rio Grande do Sul, through the Proyecto Agua Limpia (Clean Water Project), a clean-water initiative Bundchen set up with her family.

She Signal Boosts Warnings About Climate Change

She also starred in National Geographic’s documentary series “Years of Living Dangerously,” in which she traveled through the Brazilian jungle to explore the intersection between deforestation and climate change.

She Hasn’t Completely Avoided Controversy

In 2011, Bundchen appeared in ads for Brazil lingerie brand Hope, which encouraged women to use their sex appeal to get out of tricky situations, such as crashing the family car or spending too much money. The country's first female president, Dilma Rousseff, labeled them as sexist and demanded that Brazil's National Council for Advertising Self-Regulation investigate the campaign.

Bundchen’s manager (her sister Patricia) retaliated with a statement, saying, "The advertising campaign’s proposal was presented to us and we considered it as a satire, a joke. We regret that something that was supposed to be fun ended up having another interpretation."

She Was Recognized by the United Nations

Bundchen has been a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Environment Programme since 2009, and in 2011 she was honored by Harvard Medical School with its Global Environmental Citizen Award.

Major environmental projects the supermodel has supported include Seal the Deal, TckTckTck and Billion Tree. Bundchen was a natural choice for the cover of “Vogue” Germany’s April 2019 “sustainability” issue, featuring in a range of shots in the ocean. She told the glossy, “Nature is where I feel the most comfortable; it’s where I find my balance.”

She Juggles Motherhood and Her Career

Bundchen returned to work, all guns blazing, after having her daughter Vivian in 2012, a little sister to her first child Benjamin, who was born in 2009. In February 2013, she was confirmed as the face of Chanel’s Les Beiges makeup campaign. In May 2013, she was named the star of H&M’s fall campaign, shooting ads in London for the high street fashion retailer.

Bundchen rounded off a hugely successful year by appearing nude in the November 2013 issue of “Vogue” Paris magazine. Her relationship with Chanel continued; in May 2014, she became the new face of the iconic fragrance, Chanel No. 5.

She Retired From the Runway to Concentrate on Other Projects

Bundchen officially retired from the runway in 2015, choosing the Colcci show during São Paulo fashion week in Brazil for her finale. She posted a snap of her first-ever runway show, age 14, to Instagram, writing, “Today after 20 years in the industry, it is a privilege to be doing my last fashion show by choice and yet still be working in other facets of the business.”

However, we might expect to see occasional runway appearances from the Brazilian bombshell from time to time. She made a rare comeback during the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

She Knows How to Make Money

The reason Bundchen continues to be the face of so many huge brand campaigns is simple: she makes companies a lot of money. After she was chosen to front an Under Armor campaign in 2016 (signing a multi-year contract for an undisclosed sum rumored to be in the nine figures), the company’s share price rose by 4 percent, adding $591.6 million to its market value. According to Forbes, Bundchen is well on her way to becoming the world’s first billionaire supermodel.

She Keeps Family Central to Everything

You could say family is a key part of Bundchen’s success. Her non-identical twin sister Patricia (who is seven minutes younger) has worked as her manager for years. They also have four other sisters, two of whom are also on the model’s payroll. Gabriela works as her lawyer and Rafaela manages her website. Meanwhile, Raquel is an accountant and Graziela is a judge in Brazil.

She’s the Primary Breadwinner in the Brady/Bundchen Household

Bundchen has an estimated net worth of $400 million, and her husband, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, whom she married in 2009, is more than happy for her to be the primary breadwinner.

On “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in May 2019, Brady brushed off the question of why he’s not the highest-paid NFL star. “I think the thing I’ve always felt for me in my life, winning has been a priority,” he said. “And my wife makes a lot of money. I’m a little smarter than you think.”

She’s Showing No Signs of Slowing Down

Bundchen continues to strike a pose, most recently featuring in the fall/winter campaign for Brazilian fashion house Rosa Cha. And in 2020, she’ll appear in a new print and digital ad campaign for Dior’s skincare line Capture Totale.

Meanwhile, environmental issues remain one of her biggest passions. Following the devastating recent fires in the Amazon rainforest, she urged her social media followers to do their bit to protect the planet, writing on Instagram, “The forest plays a key role in balancing the Earth’s climate and consequently in our lives. We cannot close our eyes to what is happening in the Amazon.”

She May Be Moving

Bundchen and Brady have put their 39.5 mega mansion in Boston on the market. It’s a stately 9,716-square-foot house that has been professionally designed through and through.

Photos of Gisele

Victoria's Secret Fashion show with Gisele Bundchen — Tyra Banks, third from the left, Heidi Klum, fourth from left, and Gisele Bundchen, fourth from right, are joined by other models on stage during the Victoria's Secret Fashion show in 2005.

Photos of Gisele

Gisele Bundchen peace signs — Gisele Bundchen attended the premiere of National Geographic Channel's, "Years of Living Dangerously".

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Gisele Bundchen at the Metropolitan Museum — Gisele Bundchen at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in 2014.

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Gisele Bundchen and Victoria's Secret Fashion — Gisele at the Victoria's Secret Fashion show in 2005.

Photos of Gisele

Photos of Gisele

Gisele Bundchen with an updo — Gisele Bundchen during the Fashion Rio Show 2006, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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Gisele Bundchen wearing Colcci — Gisele Bundchen wore a creation by Colcci during the Sao Paulo Fashion Week in Sao Paulo, in 2009.

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Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen in 2015.

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Gisele Bundchen for Compania Maritima — Representing the Brazilian swimsuit brand Compania Maritima in 2002.

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Opening Pitch — Gisele threw the opening pitch for a game with the Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox in 2004.