Kimora Lee Simmons

The Simmons, who have two daughters, Ming Lee, born in 2000, and Aoki Lee, born in 2002, live in a 49,000 square-foot home with 20 bathrooms on four acres in Saddle River, New Jersey, serviced by five maids, four assistants, two live-in nannies, a full-time chef, and two drivers. Simmons, who sports a 25-carat diamond ring, owns a fleet of luxury cars including a platinum extended-base Bentley, and brags about her extensive collection of Manolo Blahnik shoes, admits that she has a taste for the finer things of life.

Although her husband donates over a $1 million annually to some 70 charities and sports a Timex, he sometimes finds himself defending his wife's extravagant tastes against scrutinizing media attention. "Every other week it's the same thing, and I'm upset about it and she's upset about it," Russell Simmons told the New York Daily News. "This is all because Kimora is an African-American Asian woman. It's as if they think she's undeserving." Simmons did not help her public image in July 2004 when she faced drug and motor vehicle charges after failing to stop her Mercedes when police attempted to pull her over for driving erratically. When she did stop just outside her home police reportedly found marijuana in the car. Simmons denied the charges at her municipal court hearing in August.

Married to one of entertainment's biggest names, Simmons has proven her place alongside her husband as a trendsetter and fashion guru, but her sights are not just set on the fashion world. She is also carving out a place in the entertainment industry. In 2003 Simmons earned a Tony Award as the executive producer of the critically acclaimed Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam. She has hosted MTV's Fashionably Loud, served as a judge on Tyra Banks's talent-search series America's Next Top Model, and appeared on MetroChannels' Full Frontal Fashion. In the fall of 2004 she began co-hosting the Life & Style, a talk show produced by Sony Television based on The View, but aimed at a younger audience. She also appeared in the film The Big Tease and has parts (as herself) in the film Beauty Shop and as a reporter in Rage Control, a 20th Century Fox comedy starring Martin Lawrence.