Most journalists don’t become household names, complete with social media followings that rival celebrities’ and lavish homes in the Hollywood Hills, but then again most journalists aren’t Elaine Welteroth. At 34, the Bay Area native already has a lifetime’s worth of career under her belt, starting from the genesis of an unpaid internship at Ebony magazine that beget her rise to top dog editor of Teen Vogue, ultimately becoming the then-youngest editor-in-chief in Condé Nast publishing history.
Welteroth served as Teen Vogue’s EIC from 2016 until 2018, and has been widely credited with the publication’s shift in coverage of softball fashion and gossip topics to more serious subjects that include social justice, politics, feminism, and race relations. She also promoted an increased focus on digital content, and Teen Vogue’s YouTube channel now sports more than 1.8 million subscribers (for her own part, Welteroth has over 650,000 followers on her personal Instagram account alone.)
In 2018, Welteroth left Teen Vogue and moved to Los Angeles to pursue an on-camera entertainment career. She signed with top agency CAA and has since appeared as a “Project Runway” judge, released a New York Times bestseller, and embarked on a nationwide speaking tour. And since early 2021, she’s also co-hosted dishy daytime TV show “The Talk,” replacing rapper/musician Eve.
On the real estate front, the newly global influencer has also locked down a $1.8 million home in L.A.’s Hollywood Hills. She and husband first announced the purchase late last year, and the couple quickly recruited top L.A. designer and recruited noted maximalist Kelly Wearstler to redesign the home’s interiors, though photos of that doubtless snazzy rework have yet to hit the glossy pages of a magazine.