Elle Macpherson was born Eleanor Nancy Gow on 29 March 1964, in Killara, Sydney Australia, to mother Frances Gow, a nurse, and father Peter Gow, an entrepreneur, sound engineer and former president of a Sydney rugby league team. She is a model, actress, TV host and businesswoman, probably best known for holding a record five appearances on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, for her lingerie line Elle Macpherson Intimates, her line of skin care products The Body, and for hosting the reality television shows “Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model” and “Fashion Star”.
So just how wealthy is Elle Macpherson? Sources state that Macpherson’s net worth reaches $95 million, as of mid-2016, accumulated during her modeling and acting career, as well as through her television hosting and her business endeavors.
Elle Macpherson Net Worth $95 Million
Macpherson’s parents divorced when she was in her early teens and she was raised by her mother, along with her two siblings. Her last name was changed to Macpherson when her mother married a multimillionaire Neil Macpherson. Growing up in the East Lindfield suburb of Sydney’s North Shore, she attended Killara High School, receiving a Higher School Certificate in 1981.
After studying law at University of Sydney, Macpherson took a ski vacation in Aspen, Colorado,and it was here that she was discovered as a model. She signed a contract with Click Model Management and launched her modeling career with a TV ad for Tab in 1982.
Macpherson’s appearance in Sports Illustrated magazine paved her way to public fame. She would eventually appear five times on the its Swimsuit covers, being the only model to do so. She also appeared on covers of major magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Marie Claire, GQ, New York and other, and made appearance in every issue of “Elle” for six straight years. Macpherson soon found herself working for major designers such as Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, Perry Ellis, Azzedine Alaia, Christian Dior and Calvin Klein. Opportunities continued to come her way, and she signed with Victoria’s Secret, doing a number of its catalog campaigns. After appearing on Time Magazine’s cover, the magazine gave her the nickname Elle ‘The Body’ Macpherson, which she later used in her business endeavors. She also signed a three-year deal with Revlon Cosmetics, being named its Global Brand Ambassador. Her popularity led the Australian government to offer her a position on its tourist commission as an unofficial ambassador. As an accomplished model, Macpherson has amassed a great personal fortune, net worth.
In 1990, in partnership with Bendon Limites Apparel, Macpherson launched her lingerie collection called Elle Macpherson Intimates. The line was extremely successful, quickly becoming the top selling lingerie line in Great Britain and Australia. It marked Macpherson’s transition from a model to a fashion label, then by expanding the line, she developed it into an international lingerie business which greatly added to her net worth.
In 1994 Macpherson started her own company – Elle Macpherson Inc. – producing a series of her own photo calendars, which was an extremely fruitful venture. She also created and starred in a series of workout videos called “Your Personal Best – The Body”, and launched a line of beauty products called Elle Macpherson – The Body. In 2014, she co-founded a health company WelleCo, releasing a product called The Super Elixir, a wellness supplement which became extremely popular and had great success in sales, so as a businesswoman, Macpherson has received numerous awards and has significantly improved her wealth.
Meanwhile, she launched her acting career, making her film debut with the 1994 “Sirens”. Her nude appearance in the film led her to a nude pictorial of Playboy the same year, which boosted her wealth as she netted $25,000 per page of a 10-page spread. The year 1996 saw her in the film “The Mirror Has Two Faces”. The following year she appeared in the films “Batman and Robin” and “The Edge”. She also appeared in several episodes of the popular series “Friends” in 1999. Her other movies include “Jane Eyre”, “If Lucy Fell” and “South Kensington”. As for the television, in 2001 she appeared in the Showtime Network miniseries “A Girl Thing” and in the 2009 series “The Beautiful Life”.
In 2010 Macpherson began hosting the British reality television show “Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model”, serving also as the show’s executive producer. She also hosted the first season of an American reality television show called “Fashion Star” in 2012, and is still serving as its executive producer.
In her private life, Macpherson married the French fashion photographer and publication director Elle Gilles Bensimon in 1986, and divorced him in 1989. She then married French banker Arpad Busson in 2002 and has two sons with him, but they divorced in 2005. Since 2013, she has been married to real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer.
Macpherson is devoted to philanthropy; she is an Ambassador of humanitarian organizations RED, UNICEF and Smile Foundation. She has also done modeling for various charitable causes and is a patron for the National Association for the Children of Alcoholics.
