Anok Yai: Top model worth $9M

From being scouted at a college homecoming to strutting for the world’s biggest fashion houses, Anok Yai has built more than just a modeling career — she’s created a $9 million empire that’s breaking barriers and rewriting the narrative for African beauty on the global stage.

Hailing from Sudan 🇸🇩, Anok’s rise to superstardom is more than just a celebration of her striking looks. It’s a story of representation, resilience, and unapologetic individuality in an industry that once overlooked faces like hers.

Anok once told Elle in a candid interview that she’s “not your average person.” And she’s right — not just because she’s one of the most sought-after and highest-paid models in the world, but because she’s always defied expectations. “I’m very dark. I’m obsessed with knife-fighting. I love edgy movies — I’m obsessed with Joker,” she said, noting how early in her career, the industry tried to box her into a bubbly persona that never fit.

Since her professional debut in 2017, she’s walked for the likes of Mugler, Versace, and Saint Laurent. And in 2018, she made fashion history by becoming the second Black woman — after Naomi Campbell — to open a Prada show at Milan Fashion Week. That moment cemented her status not just as a model, but as a movement.

Today, Anok Yai isn’t just worth $9 million — she’s priceless to the girls who see themselves in her, to the brands that need her edge, and to the industry that’s finally catching up with the future she represents.