Let's move back into the realm of more common objects - hands up how many people once convinced themselves they were the next big thing in rock and roll and bought themselves an electric guitar when they were younger? Keep your hand up if you gave up on learning to play it before you ever made it onto a stage. Yep, us too. If you still have that guitar hanging around somewhere, though (possibly because you're convinced you're still going to learn how to play it one day), you could be sitting a two-million-dollar asset.
The two best-known brands in the guitar world are Gibson and Fender; they have been for years, and they still are today. They've been in business for decades, and each year's design becomes a vintage. That's why a mint-condition Gibson Les Paul from the 1950s is worth more than $100,000. To give real value to a guitar though, it needs to have passed through the hands of a legendary musician. John Lennon's Electro-Acoustic J-160 went for $2.25m at auction in 2014.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.