You may not know his name, but you've almost certainly worn his clothes, and you've seen his logo everywhere your whole life. Bowerman was a track and field coach, and the man who introduced the concept of jogging to America, but what really made him money - and continues to make money for his estate - was the brand he launched. Wanting to create a more comfortable running shoe for athletes, he founded Blue Ribbon Sports. The company would eventually be rebranded as Nike.
The first Nike trainers were hand made by Bowerman using his wife's waffle iron, which he ruined in the process. His experimental approach involved heating plastics and materials in an enclosed space, and the resulting fumes gave him nerve damage, eventually leaving him unable to walk. His biographer later noted that Bowerman had sacrificed his ability to walk in order to give the world better shoes to run in.
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.