It’s good to be Gisele Bundchen, Forbes’ top-paid models list confirms

Gisele Bundchen has gotten pretty cozy at the top of Forbes’ list of highest-paid models.

The Brazilian supermodel, 34, has topped the financial magazine’s annual list for the eighth year in a row by earning an estimated $47 million. That’s a $5-million increase from last year’s calculation.

The sought-after mother of two, who out-earned her husband Tom Brady as well as all other models, has cash rolling in from contracts with H&M, Chanel, Carolina Herrera, Pantene hair products and Oral-B in Brazil, the mag said. She also dabbles in design, getting a nice sum from her work for cobbler Grendene and her designs for Hope lingerie, which launched Gisele Bundchen Intimates.

Brace yourself for a surprising pay gap, though: This year’s second-place models earned only 17% of what Bundchen did.

Brazilian beauty Adriana Lima and Dutch damsel Doutzen Kroes, who are both still full-time Victoria’s Secret Angels, tied for second place. While their $8-million figures are nothing to scoff it, it’s an unfair world if you’re not Gisele.

The pulchritudinous pair’s contracts with the lingerie retailer padded out their earnings; however, Lima, 33, also scored contracts with Desigual and Maybelline, while Kroes, 29, locked in deals with L’Oreal, Emilio Pucci and H&M.

British model Kate Moss, 40, who returned as the face of jeweler David Yurman this year, kept up with the young ‘uns and tied for third place with Sports Illustrated model Kate Upton, 22, former VS Angel Miranda Kerr, 31, and 26-year-old Chinese model Liu Wen, who’s also an Angel.

Members of that comely quartet are said to have earned $7 million each in the past year. Moss and Wen got a bump from last year’s estimate, but it looks as if Kerr took a minor pay cut of $200,000.

This is Upton’s first time on the list, thanks to deals with fast-fashion retailer Express and Bobbi Brown cosmetics.

The tally also heralded a handful of other newcomers and current “it” girls. Taylor Swift’s bestie Karlie Kloss, Brits Jourdan Dunn and Cara Delevingne, and Polish “Project Runway” host Anja Rubik all made their Forbes debuts. Kloss and Dunn raked in $4 million each, while Delevingne and Rubik each locked in an estimated $3.5 million, the mag said.

It should be noted that several of these ladies, especially the newcomers, have significant social-media followings and have built their own brands online.

“[Social media] has given models a voice and it’s the next way for advertising to reach an audience,” Chris Gay, general manager of Society Management, told Forbes.

It also plays nicely into the context of the latest issue of Vogue, which touted the same idea in its September issue, and placed Delevingne and Kloss, along with model Joan Smalls, on the cover of its largest book of the year. (Smalls is also on Forbes’ list, having earned an estimated $3 million).

The plum enumeration takes into consideration the models’ pre-tax earnings from June 2013 to June 2014. Agent and other fees have not been deducted. It looks at modeling earnings rather than payouts from acting or singing, and is based on interviews with managers, agents and brand executives.

For Forbes’ complete list, click here.

It pays to be pretty. Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.