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Wilhelmina Models (otcqb: WHLM) is a talent management agency that was founded in 1967 by Dutch supermodel Wilhelmina Cooper and her husband, Bruce Cooper. Wilhelmina Models provides full-spectrum model management for women, men, full-figured, fitness, and children models, as well as athletes, entertainers, and musicians.

The Wilhelmina agency has offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. The company also licenses its brand to third-party agencies throughout the world including the United States, Panama, and Thailand. As an extension of Wilhelmina’s talent representation business, Wilhelmina Artist Management specializes representing entertainers and musicians.

In February 2009, New Century Equity Holdings Corp., a publicly traded company, acquired Wilhelmina Models. New Century subsequently changed its name to Wilhelmina International, Inc. and now trades under the ticker symbol WHLM.

Wilhelmina International, Inc. is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

History
Dutch supermodel Wilhelmina Cooper founded the agency with her husband Bruce Cooper and two minority partners, Bill Weinberg and Fran Rothchild in 1967. Wilhelmina developed numerous models, including Iman and Beverly Peele Cooper died of lung cancer in 1980 at 40. The agency was transferred to her business partners after her death. Soon after her death, many of Wilhelmina's top-tier models left for other agencies.

Dieter Esch bought the agency in 1989 for a reported 4 to 7 million dollars. In 1993, he appointed his 21 year old daughter Natasha Esch president of the agency and gave her his shares as a college graduation present. She was criticized when she took the position for being too young and inexperienced. In 1997, Natasha Esch resigned from her position in order to pursue other opportunities. Dieter Esch succeeded her as president.

Susan Georget founded Wilhelmina's plus-size division, 10/20 in 1994. Wilhelmina, along with Ford Models was credited with expanding opportunities for plus-size models beyond modeling plus-size clothing. 10/20 co-sponsored MODE magazine's model searches from 1998 until the magazine's demise in 2001. The winners of the contest were given contracts with Wilhelmina. The searches drew thousands of applicants from the United States and Canada, and launched many careers of plus-size models, including Cover Girl model Jordan Tesfay.

Wilhelmina was involved with a number of modeling related television shows. The winners of America's Next Top Model seasons 1, were offered contacts to Wilhelmina as part of their prize. The Agency, a reality television show on VH1, followed the bookers for the editorial fashion divisions of the agency. Wilhelmina president Sean Patterson was a celebrity judge for She's Got the Look, a modeling competition for models over 35 that aired on TVLand. A contract with the agency was one of the prizes.

In February 2009, New Century Equity Holdings Corp., a publicly traded company, acquired Wilhelmina Models. Esch sold his stake in the agency for 22 million dollars. New Century subsequently changed its name to Wilhelmina International, Inc. and now trades under the ticker symbol WHLM.

http://books.google.com/books?id=XeAG6IjswjgC&pg=PA334&lpg=PA334&dq=dieter+esch+wilhelmina&source=bl&ots=JvXgP0PdRk&sig=nOjBoC5CJ33wKIRwm9my2mFuUcM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uz_HUpCOC6jJsATphoH4DQ&ved=0CFUQ6AEwCw#v=onepage&q=dieter%20esch%20wilhelmina&f=false *

Fashion models (former and present)

 * Iman Abdulmajid
 * Gabriel Aubry
 * Gia Carangi
 * Willow Bay
 * Aija Barzdina
 * Michael Bergin
 * Joanne Borgella
 * Derek & Keith Brewer
 * Esther Cañadas
 * Lois Chiles
 * Kortnie Coles
 * Charlotte Coyle
 * Cal Culver
 * Adrianne Curry
 * Courtney Davies
 * Pam Dawber
 * Michelle Deighton
 * Janice Dickinson
 * Kate Elson
 * Nicole Fox
 * John Gidding
 * Camilla Hansen
 * Diane Hernandez
 * Raina Hein
 * Anjelica Huston
 * Lauren Hutton
 * Kendall Nicole Jenner
 * Toccara Jones
 * Robyn Lawley
 * Amy Lemons
 * Alex Lundqvist
 * Jon Kortajarena
 * Wendie Malick
 * Philip Louis de' Medici
 * Meiling Melançon
 * Saira Mohan
 * Diandra Newlin
 * Tuyet Lan Nguyen
 * Sasckya Porto
 * Marquita Pring
 * Fátima Ptacek
 * Gerit Quealy
 * Alexandra Richards
 * Theodora Richards
 * Coco Rocha
 * Anya Rozova
 * Eve Salvail
 * Marcus Schenkenberg
 * Nastasia Scott
 * Andres Segura
 * Jessica Serfaty
 * Elyse Sewell
 * Jason Shaw
 * Naomi Sims
 * Ali Stephens
 * Marlon Teixeira
 * Thomas Tevana
 * Whitney Thompson
 * Tasha Tilberg
 * Rachel Trachtenburg
 * Alexandra Underwood
 * Mark Vanderloo
 * Cassie Ventura
 * Erin Wagner
 * Krista White
 * Ona Zee
 * Katya Zharkova

Celebrities (former and present)

 * Amerie
 * Iggy Azalea
 * Beyoncé
 * Britney Spears
 * Tom Berenger
 * Brandy
 * Chris Brown
 * Kourtney Brown
 * Ryan Cabrera
 * Cassie
 * Justin Chambers
 * Ciara
 * Emma Dumont
 * Jenna Elfman
 * Fergie
 * Daisy Fuentes
 * Rebecca Gayheart
 * Katherine Heigl
 * Raina Hein
 * Whitney Houston
 * Kendall Jenner
 * Nick Lachey
 * Jessica Lange
 * Lisa Leslie
 * Leighton Meester
 * Meiling Melancon
 * Matthew Modine
 * Olivia Palermo
 * Leven Rambin
 * Nicole Scherzinger
 * Christina Schmidt
 * Jamie-Lynn Sigler
 * Ashlee Simpson
 * Jessica Simpson
 * Katelyn Tarver
 * Sela Ward
 * Cindy Taylor
 * Vanessa L. Williams
 * Krista White
 * Matthew Ziff