Vietnam veteran Roger Staubach has had the sort of pro football career - and life - that you can be really proud of. Joining the Dallas Cowboys fresh from his tour of duty with the army, staying with them for all 11 years of his career and winning the Super Bowl an amazing five times during those years. He is one of only four men to win both the Heisman Trophy and the Super Bowl MVP award.
Sensing the end of his career coming, he started the Staubach Company to pursue interests in real estate, which he hoped would give him a strong income in retirement. It did a little more than that. His company grew and grew, and when the time came to sell it to multinational firm Jones Lang LaSalle in 2008, it was valued at $613m. Staubach could easily have chosen to retire, but seems to enjoy his work, remaining with the merged firm as executive chairman to this day.
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.