Elizabeth Ann "Lizzie" Velásquez is an American motivational speaker and author. She has a rare congenital disease which, among other symptoms, impedes her from accumulating body fat. This condition resulted in bullying during her childhood and early youth and ultimately inspired her to take up motivational speaking. She has gained many supporters and speaks out against bullying. Lizzie was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome by the Baylor College of Medicine.
Velásquez has zero percent body fat and is medically unable to gain weight. She has never weighed more than 29 kg (64 pounds), and is required to eat many small meals and snacks throughout the day. Additionally, she is blind in her right eye, which began to cloud over when she was four years of age, and vision-impaired in her left eye. Ever since Lizzie was dubbed the "World's Ugliest Woman" in a video posted on YouTube, Lizzie has spoken out against bullying. She has spoken at TED, where she talked about the topic of "How Do YOU Define Yourself" and has garnered 40 million views on her YouTube Channel. Lizzie is known for her optimism.
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.