It says a lot about just how successful Wayne Gretzky was as an ice hockey player when he still has so much money, so many years after retiring from the game. You don't get a nickname like "The Great One" without doing something to earn it, and Gretzky is widely considered to be the greatest hockey player of all time. No other player in history has managed to accumulate 200 points in a single season. Gretzky did it no less than four times. When he retired, they didn't just retire his famous number 99 jersey from his own team - the whole league followed suit.
After retiring, he went on to get involved with coaching the Canadian national hockey side, who won their first gold medal in 50 years with him among their management team in 2002. He remains involved in the sport at the business level, returning to his former club the Edmonton Oilers as a partner and vice chairman of their parent company.
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.