Elle joins board of surfwear firm

Supermodel Elle Macpherson has agreed to join the board of surfwear fashion brand Hot Tuna as an executive director, it was reported today.

The London-listed Australian company will grant Macpherson shares worth almost £1m (€1.4m) and further share options worth up to £1.5m (€2.2m), according to The Sunday Times.

The supermodel – who has been known as “The Body” since the 1980s and used to model swimwear for Hot Tuna – will advise the company on product development, the brand and sales.

Hot Tuna are also said to be hopeful she will give the company an insight into surf and youth fashion.

Australian-born Macpherson has a reputation as a shrewd businesswoman and her lingerie and swimwear brand Intimates is estimated to generate sales of £39m (€56.3m) a year.

Hot Tuna chairman Ranjit Murugason told the Sunday Times: “She is a great brand manager. She has been extremely successful.”

Macpherson is said to have signed a two year contract with Hot Tuna, which was formed in Australia in 1969 and floated on London’s Alternative Investment Market last September. The company is valued at £19.4m (€28m).

Macpherson told The Sunday Telegraph: “I believe this to be a maverick and dynamic union.”

She is the latest in a sting of celebrities to join boardrooms in recent months. Newsreader Anna Ford joined supermarket giant Sainsbury in May while former Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason sits on the board of car dealer HR Owen.

Macpherson’s package is said to involve two million shares – which at Friday’s closing price of 40p are worth £800,000 (€1.2m) – and a further two million share options priced between 50p and 75p, or £1m (€1.4m) to £1.5m (€2.2m).