Anna Wintour Net Worth 2024: Fashioning a $50 Million Fortune

Anna Wintour has been Vogue’s editor-in-chief since 1988 and is a well-known name in the fashion world. She has an estimated net worth of $50 million in 2024.

The woman has had such an eventful life and fiery reputation that she inspired the hit novel and Hollywood movie The Devil Wears Prada.

5 Fun Facts about Anna Wintour

1. Early Rebel: Wintour rebelled against her school’s dress code by altering her skirts.
2. Fashion Icon: Inspired the character in “The Devil Wears Prada”.
3. Nickname: Known as “Nuclear Wintour” for her tough leadership style.
4. Met Gala Transformation: Played a crucial role in transforming the Met Gala into a major global event.
5. Royal Honor: Awarded DBE, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, by Queen Elizabeth II.

Latest News & Controversies

• 2024 Met Gala Theme Controversy: In 2024, Anna Wintour faced some criticism over the confusion surrounding the Met Gala theme, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” The theme, which centers around historical garments that are too fragile to wear, led to misunderstandings about what attendees were expected to wear. Wintour broke her own “cardinal rule” by choosing a theme that could be interpreted in many ways. She later apologized publicly for the confusion, explaining that the complexity of the theme and its dress code, dubbed “The Garden of Time,” left attendees and the public unsure of what to expect at the event​.
• Criticism Over Met Gala Exclusivity: As always, the 2024 Met Gala maintained its reputation for exclusivity, with criticism emerging about how the event continues to cater to elite celebrities, fashion icons, and wealthy individuals. Wintour’s decision to keep the guest list tightly controlled adds to the ongoing debate about the event being less accessible to new or diverse voices within the fashion industry.
• Ongoing Influence at Vogue and Condé Nast: In 2024, Wintour continues to maintain her powerful influence at Vogue and Condé Nast as Global Chief Content Officer. Her decisions, particularly in relation to the Met Gala and Vogue’s content direction, remain highly scrutinized by the public and fashion industry insiders. Many continue to praise her forward-thinking leadership, while others critique her perceived reluctance to pass the torch to a younger generation of fashion influencers.

Anna Wintour’s Net Worth Breakdown:

Since Wintour’s assets are held privately and not through a publicly traded company, calculating her exact net worth is impossible, without her input.

However, we’ve been able to collect plenty of public information surrounding her various sources of income, investments, assets, and business ventures to build a holistic estimate, which we break down here for you.

The Early Life of an Icon

Anna Wintour was born on 3 November 1949 in Hampstead, London. Her father, Charles Wintour, was the editor of the London-based Evening Standard while her mother, Eleanor Baker, was an American social worker. Her parents were married for almost forty years, between 1940 and 1979, before they divorced.

When she was in her teens, Wintour began dating well-connected men who were much older than her. These connections would later play into developing her career.

Anna Wintour has four siblings, but her elder brother, Gerald, died in a traffic accident as a child.

Her younger brother, Patrick Wintour, is a diplomatic editor at the Guardian, while her other brother, James, worked in local government in London. Her sister, Nora Wintour, is a former international trade union officer who works as an independent researcher and policy advisor in labor and trade relations.

Anna Wintour attended the North London Collegiate School. While at the school, she rebelled against the school’s dress code by taking up the hemlines of her skirts. Wintour’s father helped her find her first job in the famed London boutique Biba, which was her first foray into the fashion industry. Notably, Wintour’s father played a crucial role in her choosing to make a career in fashion. Said Wintour in the documentary, The September Issue:

I think my father really decided for me that I should work in fashion

After graduating from school, she enrolled in the Harrods’ training program. Her parents also made her enroll in a neighboring school’s fashion program which she shortly quit, saying, “You either know fashion, or you don’t.”

Anna Wintour’s Early Career

In 1970, Wintour joined as an editorial assistant at Harper’s & Queen, a publication born when two publications, Harper’s Bazaar UK and Queen, merged. It was Wintour’s first stint with fashion journalism that she had built upon over the years to become one of the most famous fashion editors ever.

In 1975, Wintour relocated to New York City where she worked at Harper’s Bazaar as a junior fashion editor.

She was fired in just nine months as her innovative style didn’t sit well with the magazine.

Commenting on her firing by the magazine, Wintour said, “I recommend that you all get fired; it’s a great learning experience.”

She subsequently joined a women’s adult magazine, Viva, as a fashion editor, but the publication shut down in 1978. Over the next two years, Wintour shuffled between New York and Paris and got into a relationship with French record producer Michel Esteban. She also briefly worked as an editor for New York magazine.

Anna Wintour at Vogue from 1983

Wintour got her next big break in 1983 when she joined Vogue as the creative director. She soon became the editor of British Vogue where she earned her nickname Nuclear Wintour. In an interview with 60 Minutes, commenting on the nickname that was coined by her staff, Wintour said, “If I’m such a bitch then they must really be a glutton for punishment, because they’re still here.” She added:

If one comes across as sometimes being cold or brusque, it’s simply because I’m striving for the best

Anna Wintour – Editor-in-Chief

In 1988, Anna Wintour replaced Grace Mirabella to become Vogue’s editor-in-chief. The move came three years after the French magazine Elle launched in the US, threatening Vogue’s popularity. Notably, now-famous fashion designer Vera Wang was also in contention to become Vogue’s editor in chief, but the position eventually went to Wintour.

Wang left Vogue after being overlooked for the position and subsequently became one of the most famous fashion designers in the world, with a net worth of $600 million.

In the very first magazine that went to publication under her leadership, Wintour used model Michaela Bercu, who was then 19, in a $10,000 jacket and a $50 pair of washed-out jeans. It was the first time that the model on the cover of Vogue wore jeans, and the publisher called to confirm whether the cover was correct.

In an article in Vogue in 2012, Wintour recalled, “It was so unlike the studied and elegant close-ups that were typical of Vogue’s covers back then, with tonnes of makeup and major jewelry. This one broke all the rules. Michaela wasn’t looking at you, and worse, she had her eyes almost closed. Her hair was blowing across her face. It looked easy, casual, a moment that had been snapped on the street, which it had been, and which was the whole point.”

Anna Wintour Net Worth: Making Waves at Vogue

Wintour transformed Vogue from a traditional fashion magazine to one that had a wider appeal, especially among youngsters. She has helped keep the magazine relevant despite the advent of the internet and ever-rising competition from other publications.

Wintour has been instrumental in the spinoffs Teen Vogue, Vogue Living, and Men’s Vogue. Vogue magazine continues to be a vital pillar of fashion journalism with a diverse readership, in part due to Wintour’s leadership.

Wintour became US artistic director at Vogue’s parent company, Condé Nast, in March 2013 and in August 2019 the company named her its global chief content officer.

Transforming the Met Gala

While Wintour has several laurels to her name, one that stands out is her efforts to transform the Met Gala. The inaugural Met Gala was held in 1948 under the stewardship of fashion publicist Eleanor Lamberelite. It was initially a gathering of Manhattan socialites, dubbed by Eleanor as The Party of the Year. The event acted as a fundraiser for the Costume Institute, previously known as the Museum of Costume Art.

The event’s transformation began when fashion columnist and editor Diana Vreeland joined the Costume Institute as a special consultant.

The transformation gained traction when Wintour took over the event beginning in 1995. Among the decisions she took was to move the event from December to the first Monday of May.

It has since become an internationally famous red carpet event, attracting celebrities from across the world. While some see the annual event as the “East Coast’s answer to the Oscars”, Fashion journalist and creative director Andre Leon Talley termed it the “Super Bowl of social fashion events”.

As Harold Koda said in a 2016 Vogue documentary about the event, “What Anna has done is understood that high fashion…. when it’s paired with celebrity becomes something bigger than both. And that is what happens on the red carpet. When you see Rihanna in a couture gown, it’s transcending.”

Anna Wintour’s Personal Life

In 1984, Anna Wintour married child psychiatrist David Shaffer, a former London acquaintance. The couple have two children – Charles and Bee – but divorced in 1999. In 2004, Wintour married telecommunications pioneer Shelby Bryan whom she met at a charity ball. They were both married when they met and later divorced their partners.

Wintour works to keep her personal life private. In an interview with the New York magazine in 1999 she said, “There are certain things that no one wants to read about in the tabloid press.” She added, “You know that your friends and your family have one vision, and if the outside world has another, then that’s just something that you just don’t focus on.”

Anna Wintour Net Worth: Other Investments and Assets

Anna Wintour lives in a four-story townhouse on Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village, New York City, which is valued at around $10 million. She also owns a summer home in Long Island and the estate is located in the town of Mastic, on the Forge River.

There is no publicly available information about Wintour’s investments in stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies. However, she might not be on friendly terms with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, popularly known as SBF. Wintour invited SBF to the Met Gala in 2022 which he initially accepted but did not turn up.

In his book Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, Michael Lewis talked about the incident and how SBF informed Wintour’s team about skipping the Met Gala just a day before the event.

He wrote that FTX’s former head of public relations, Natalie Tien, “was prepared for Anna Wintour’s people to be disappointed when she told them that Sam wouldn’t be there. It was their outrage that surprised her. ‘They called and shouted and said Sam will never set foot in fashion again!'”

Anna Wintour’s Awards and Accolades

Anna Wintour has won several awards over the years. These include:

• In the 2008 Queen’s Birthday Honours, appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
• In 2009, US President Barack Obama appointed Wintour to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.
• In 2010, The American Society of Magazine Editors elected Anna Wintour to the Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame.
• In 2014, she received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Fashion Awards.
• In 2017, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Wintour DBE, or Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. This grants her the right to be called Dame Anna Wintour.
• The American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR) gave Wintour the Award of Courage for AIDS Research.
• In 2023, Anna Wintour was recognized in the King’s first official Birthday Honors.

Anna Wintour’s Philanthropy and Charity Work

Anna Wintour has been associated with several philanthropic causes. The Vogue magazine editor is a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute and has helped it raise millions of dollars in her years-long association with the institution.

According to Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “Each year she (Wintour) sets the goals higher and each year we are overwhelmed by the benefit’s results. This success has laid the foundation for the Costume Institute’s future, most notably its forthcoming renovation to allow the public greater access to the collection. Her commitment to our work in this field is truly unparalleled.”

She played a pivotal role in developing the CFDA/Vogue Initiative to raise millions of dollars in the fight against AIDS.

Wintour is a Founding Committee Member for the New York-Presbyterian Youth Anxiety Center, which focuses on anxiety disorders in people aged between 16 and 28.

What Can We Learn from Anna Wintour’s Life?

Anna Wintour is one of the most successful magazine editors and there are many lessons to be drawn from her success.

Wintour has been a go-getter and reportedly told her coworkers at Harper’s & Queen that she wanted to edit Vogue one day. Eventually, she went on to become the fashion bible’s editor-in-chief and has been in-post for years now.

Her journey was not easy, and it took a lot of hard work and perseverance to reach the pinnacle of her chosen industry.

In an interview with Interview‘s editor-in-chief, Ingrid Sischy, Wintour recalled, “When I moved to the States, in the late ’70s, it took quite a bit of time to understand American fashion. In fact, I was fired from my first job not understanding American fashion.”

Wintour is also known for her strong work ethic being a perfectionist. As a leader, she earned the nickname Nuclear Wintour for being so tough.

Under her leadership, Vogue’s readership has exploded, and it’s not without a reason. She has put the magazine’s readers at the center which has helped fuel the success.

Wintour is also great at networking which has not only aided her professional growth but also helped her find the best contributors to Vogue. The importance of networking – whether in the real world or through social media – cannot be overstated and we all should strive to grow our professional network.

Wintour is a learner and has a forward-looking personality which has helped her stay relevant in the ever-evolving fashion industry. As she said in her comments at the end of The September Issue, “Fashion’s not about looking back. It’s always about looking forward.”