A couple of questions:
Who did Next poach? Can anyone recall both the models and their former agencies? The one that I recall is Karlie from Elite and I think it involved a six figure signing bonus (right?).
Next question, what is is about Paul Rowland that would make an up-and-coming model like Karmen switch? Of course he is a good agent, one of the best, but what models became actual stars under his leadership (as opposed to the flavor of the month), Iris is the only one that I can think of and she is more of a rising star. The one thing that I have seen him be very successful at is getting established models like Iris and Tao tons of runway work beyond their sophomore season, so on that basis I can see a model doing a city switch, namely moving to Ford NY, but I am not so sure about a worldwide switch and that also assumes that it was the model's non-New York agent who scored the campaigns.
If the Anja rumor turns out to be true, I can only see that making sense if they give her a big, fat signing bonus because presumably her resume, reputation and relationships will keep her name on the top of the lists of editors, casting directors and designers.
I wonder if Ford has given him a great big chunk of money and told him to go out and buy a bunch of girls to fill up their board.