Elle Macpherson ( ; born 29 March 1964) is an Australian model, actress, philanthropist and businesswoman. She is best known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue from the 1980s and '90s and into the 2000s. She is also known as the founder and public face of a series of business ventures including Elle Macpherson Intimates, a lingerie line, and "The Body", a line of skin care products. According to Forbes, she is worth around £60 million.

Early life

Macpherson was born in Cronulla, Sydney, the daughter of Peter Gow, a former president of Sydney rugby league club, the Cronulla Sharks. Her mother Frances worked as a nurse before she married. Elle grew up in Killara, a North Shore suburb of Sydney, and attended Killara High School. She is the eldest of four children including activist Mimi Macpherson. Macpherson's parents divorced when she was 10, and she moved with her mother and two siblings. Her mother remarried, and a mistake registering at a new school meant that her name was changed from her father's, Gow, to her stepfather's, Macpherson.Above Magazine, Fall 2008. "Body Talk with Elle Macpherson," p. 16-31

Rise to fame

At age 17, planning to follow in her stepfather's footsteps, Elle enrolled to study law at Sydney University. Before starting college, she visited the United States with the intent of spending her gap year modeling in order to pay for her university education. Macpherson traveled to New York, where she initially signed with Click Model Management. It was to be the beginning of a 25-year stay.

Her career properly began in 1982 with a television commercial for Tab Cola that established her as a "girl next door" figure in Australia. By 1986, Time Magazine had already put her on the cover (with a feature entitled "The Big Elle"); she had by that time also been featured on the covers of Elle, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Tatler, and Playboy. fact: date=February 2009

Already possessing worldwide name recognition, Macpherson cemented her high profile through frequent appearances in Elle magazine, where she appeared in every issue for six straight years. During this time she married, when she was 21, Elle Creative Director Gilles Bensimon.ES Magazine, Evening Standard, April 23, 2004, p. 30-33

 “Before starting college, she went on a skiing trip to Aspen, Colorado; on the way home, she was persuaded by her booker to stop off in New York and see if she could get some work. She stayed for 20 years, marrying the photographer Gilles Bensimon at 21. She was his muse. but the age difference (20 years) proved too great and they divorced six years later, in 1989.”

Eventually she gained even more exposure through Sports Illustrated magazine's annual swimsuit issue. She appeared on the cover a record five times, in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1994 and 2006. Her popularity had reached such a level that Australian government offered her a post on its tourist commission as an unofficial ambassador.