You can be one of the biggest country music stars of all time, and you can sell millions of records for six decades, but if you insist on stiffing the IRS on their share of the profits it's bound to catch up with you in the end. Nelson's fortune was huge, but so was the bill that he was racking up to the taxman in the background. When it hit $16.7m, the IRS decided they were no longer going to wait for Nelson to pay up, and came looking for him with a vengeance.
Nelson paid what he owed by releasing a new album - the cheekily-titled 'The IRS Tapes,' which settled at least some of the bill. The remainder came out of his own pocket, and as a result, he doesn't quite live the same lavish lifestyle he enjoyed beforehand. Given that he still generates big sales figures every year, though, we imagine it won't be too long before his accounts are topped up again.
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.