The 4-year-old who spends $46,000 a month

Model Linda Evangelista claims her son (pictured here in 2009) needs $46,000 per month - an amount that includes security and a vacation stipend.

(Image credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

last updated 10 January 2015

During her peak popularity years, iconic supermodel Linda Evangelista, 46, once said that she wouldn't "wake up for less than $10,000 a day." Now, apparently, her 4-year-old son, Augustin, won't wake up for less than $46,000 a month. That's the amount in child support Evangelista is demanding of the boy's biological father, French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault (who's married to actress Salma Hayek, with whom he also has a 4-year-old daughter). Evangelista claims she needs $46,000 a month to provide for Augustin in the "manner to which he has grown accustomed" — including 24/7 nanny care, personal drivers, and private school tuition. Is this amount ridiculous, or appropriate for a toddler of Augustin's status?

This is "absolutely sick": Even if Augustin is used to these extravagances, says Monica Bielanko at Babble, it doesn't mean he needs them. And just because Evangelista and Pinault can afford these perks, "it doesn't mean they should" provide them. Three nannies and a back-up nanny waiting in the wings? If that's what necessary for a mother to raise her son, then she "shouldn't have children."

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Well, everyone has a different normal: It's an eye-popping figure to most Americans, but in Evangelista's circle, this isn't outrageous, says Robert Frank at The Wall Street Journal. A representative from a New York-based lifestyle management firm for wealthy families confirms that all the expenses Evangelista lists, from the luxury clothing to security, are quite typical for affluent New Yorkers. In other words, Mr. Pinault: "You're getting a bargain."

Forget the $46,000 figure. It's the timing that's odd: It "seems extra weird," says Linda Sharps at The Stir, that Evangelista is taking Pinault to court now, four years after Augustin was born. Perhaps the lawsuit isn't about the "welfare of her son," and has more to do with jealousy. Pinault, after all, reportedly spends $50,000 a month on his daughter with actress Salma Hayek. "Hell hath no fury like a washed-up supermodel left in the dust while her rich French lover marries a more famous younger woman."