Jeff Springer
Business Accomplishments: Her brand and influence through her show. TV & film production. Product lines. Real estate development.
A successful model most of her life and an young female African-American role model to many, Tyra Banks could have stopped there, but has only risen since.
Starting in May 2003 her creation-America’s Next Top Model started modestly and has grown into a worldwide hit and is embarking upon its 10th cycle. The most recent edition was the network’s top-rated series, averaging 5.2 million viewers weekly. And The Tyra Banks Show — a broad mix of women’s issues and frothy fare — is now a talk-show force to be reckoned with: 4.3 million adult female viewers tuned in weekly this past November sweeps, and, with a median age of 40, Tyra has the youngest talk-show audience in daytime. (Oprah’s median age is 55.) Now the 34-year-old has a broader goal in mind: world domination. (Yes, seriously.) With a recent multimillion-dollar TV-and-film-production deal through Warner Bros. Entertainment, along with retail and real estate projects in development, Banks is poised to become the most influential woman in television since the almighty O herself.
