Australia is home to a glittering list of celebrities that have made their millions in Hollywood or in professional sport. You'd think that would be enough for some people but the lure of turning big money into even bigger money is too great for some would-be entrepreneurs.

Let's take a look at some of the biggest names in Australian popular culture to have dabbled in entrepreneurship, taking their personal fortunes to new heights.

Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch, 87, has been and remains one of the world's most prolific entrepreneurs. After inheriting News Limited from his father back in 1952 at the tender age of 21, Murdoch began acquiring even more newspapers throughout Australia and New Zealand, building his media empire. He then expanded into the UK and the United States, purchasing The Times and News of the World to name but a few. His controlling interest in 20th Century Fox saw him begin to control television networks as well as traditional print journalism. Today, Murdoch's holding company for his global media operations, News Corporation has been underpinned by recent acquisitions of The Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins. Anybody who has a personal investment portfolio or enjoys trading on financial markets with IG will note that shares in News Corporation are available but their value today is around the same as it was some five years ago. Not that Murdoch will have too many sleepless nights about that given his reported US$15.7 billion fortune!

Nicole Kidman
Following a ten-year marriage to Hollywood star, Tom Cruise, Kidman received a small fortune as part of the couple's divorce. Kidman was an acting star in her own right too, playing a headline role in the 2001 classic Moulin Rouge! for which she received her first Oscar nomination. Kidman now has an estimated net wealth of $347 million, thanks largely to a very sensible property investment portfolio, spanning property Down Under and in the U.S.

Hugh Jackman
Fifty-year-old Jackman was once one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, according to a 2013 article by Forbes. The star of the X-Men franchise as Wolverine, Jackman has used his personal fortune very wisely to create his very own production house, The Seed Productions. His inaugural production, The Deception, raked in over US$17 million at the box office. Jackman is also putting his wealth to good use in philanthropic ways too, as an ambassador for World Vision, which is dedicated to ending poverty and global injustice. Jackman also owns the Laughing Man Foundation, encouraging social-based entrepreneurship to improve living conditions in hard-pressed nations such as Ethiopia.

Greg Norman
The Great White Shark is long retired from the professional golf scene but Greg Norman remains one of the richest celebrities in Australia. With an estimated net worth of US$377 million, Norman has his fingers in a number of pies entrepreneurially-speaking! Although he has never officially retired from the Champions Tour, Norman has focused heavily on business. The Greg Norman Company now represents over a dozen different corporations, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year. From golf course designs and golf wear to restaurants and real estate, Norman's business legacy is now almost as impressive as his golfing legacy!

Elle Macpherson
After initially shooting to stardom for her killer body in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues, Elle Macpherson has demonstrated her business acumen by launching a series of business ventures, ranging from skincare and lingerie to television production. In the mid-90s, Macpherson also played supporting roles in hit Hollywood films such as Batman and Robin and The Mirror Has Two Faces. In 2005, she was named Glamour Magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year and her net wealth is now a reported US$60 million.

These guys have genuinely excelled in their business endeavours. Not only are they icons in popular culture, they are inspirations to those with an entrepreneurial spirit aiming big.