Curled up in front of a log fire in a luxurious chalet at San Moritz, Âsupermodel Elle Macpherson tweeted a photo of the London Eye sparkling at night with the words: “Ring magic!!â€
The odd picture puzzled most of her 67,000 followers â€" but close friends got the secret message.
Mum-of-two Elle, 48, had just got engaged to her on-off billionaire boyfriend Jeffrey Soffer and, while as protective of her private life as ever, she was clearly bursting with joy.
The Australian beauty and Soffer, 43, certainly looked blissfully happy as they strolled arm in arm through the Swiss ski resort of choice for the Âsuper-rich this week.
And friends are hoping that her second marriage will finally bring the personal happiness she has craved after a string of failed romances.
But the cynics and cod-psychologists are already casting doubt on the love m atch, bitchily suggesting that Elle is marrying for money and repeating the mistakes of past relationships.
Since her early 20s she has dated or wed a string of multi-millionaires, Âentrepreneurs and financiers but never found lasting happiness.
Now, as she approaches 50, she is set to marry the wealthiest of them all â€" an American real estate agent behind a £5billion property empire.
So has Elle “The Body†got her head set only on minted men?
Why is a woman who rose to the top in the superficial world of fashion so attracted to hard-nosed bankers and business giants?
Fellow 1980s supermodel Linda Evangelista once famously said: “We don’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.â€
So Elle’s relationship history has, inevitably, prompted sniggers that she doesn’t get in for less than a million.
But Elle Macpherson is no gold digger.
She has a personal fortune of more than £80million built up through her lingerie and skin-care empires.
This is a determined woman with a brilliant Âbusiness brain â€" quite naturally attracted to men who know how it works and appreciate her financial savvy.
In fact The Body has become The Body Corporate.
She was born Eleanor Nancy Gow in the Killara neighbourhood of Sydney, where her dad Peter was a successful entrepreneur and sound engineer and her mother Frances was a nurse.
Elle was a brilliant student and began studying law at university before moving to New York to become a model. Her sister Mimi is also a successful businesswoman and environmentalist.
In 1982 Elle’s modelling career took off when a TV ad for diet drink Tan established her as the perfect “girl next door†figure in Australia.
It also opened her eyes to business.
She told a BBC Money Programme documentary in 2007: “That’s when I understood the power of the commercial side of the modelling industry. The ad was distributed for years and I received residuals.â€
Elle became one of the original supermodels, alongside Christy Turlington. Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell.
But early in her career she left her model agency and formed her own company, Elle Macpherson Inc, which became the foundation of all her business enterprises.
She produced her own calendars, backed by popular “making of†TV programmes, launched fitness videos and then introduced her own lingerie collection, called Elle Macpherson Intimates â€" which now makes more than £80million a year across the world.
After that she also negotiated a shrewd partnership deal with underwear firm Bendon, which boosted her bottom line.
She went on to launch her own successful brand of beauty products, became a global ambassador for Revlon, worked for Unicef and other charities and picked up a string of awards for her business acumen.
While her personal life has not been so consistently successful, Elle has remained on good terms with many of her former boyfriends.
She had a brief romance with singer Billy Joel in 1981, dated film star Kevin Costner in 1996 and was linked to actor Colin Farrell, Canadian rocker Bryan Adams and war Âphotographer Scott Douglas.
But five serious Ârelationships have been with men whose wealth and business empires surpass even her own.
Her first husband, French photoÂgrapher Gilles Bensimon, was the creative director of Elle magazine and 20 years her senior.
She dated Green Shields stamp heir Tim Jefferies then financier Arpad “Arki†Busson, with whom she has two sons â€" Arpad Flynn, 14, and Aurelius, 10.
After a relationship with British banker Roger Jenkins she met hotel owner and property king Soffer.
The pair split last March after two years. But in November Elle helped him recover from a near-fatal helicopter crash â€" and now her love life is flying again.
Elle's portfolio
Gilles Bensimon - worth £17m
French fashion Âphotographer Gilles was in a top job at Elle Âmagazine when he met the supermodel on a photo shoot in 1984.
Despite a 20-year age gap â€" she was 21 and he was 41 â€" they married in May 1986 and divorced three years later.
He built his fortune working for commercial clients including US store Saks Fifth Avenue and was recently the photographer on reality TV series America’s Next Top Model.
Tim Jefferies - worth £10m
Elle dated millionaire Tim Jefferies, heir to the Green Shield Stamps brand, from 1993 to 1996.
Their relationship apparently broke down because of the pressures of her jet-set career, leaving Tim, now 50, heartbroken.
But the pair remain close friends and Jefferies, who was once married to Koo Stark and also dated fellow supermodel Claudia Schiffer, invited Elle to his 2008 wedding to model Malin Johansson.
Arpad Busson - worth £1bn
French-born Arpad Busson, 50, began working in finance in the late 80s and later became a marketing Ârepresentative for an investment firm.
In 2001 he launched his own group managing hedge funds.
He and Elle were together until 2005 and have two young sons together, Flynn, 15, and Cy, 10.
After splitting from Elle he went on to have a baby with actress Uma Thurman.
Roger Jenkins - worth £300m
Elle dated financier Roger Jenkins for seven months in 2012.
Nicknamed “Roger the Dodger†because of the complex tax Âarrangements he’s built his reputation on, the 57-year-old Brit was credited with saving Barclays at the height of the credit crunch by securing billions from the Qatari royals.
In 2009 he was also the highest-earning Âindividual for a public company on a salary of £20million.
Jeffrey Soffer - worth £5bn
The son of a Florida real estate mogul, Jeffrey Soffer, 43, has Âdeveloped a huge Âproperty empire including office and retail space, condos and a Miami hotel.
He and Elle began dating last year but split up, only to be reunited when he narrowly survived a helicopter crash in the Bahamas that killed his friend.
He’s known for racing Ferraris, owns a 257ft yacht and holds a pilot’s licence.
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