Don't buy a town or a city. We don't care how rich you are, or how great an idea it looks at the time, there's just no good reason for someone to drive up to a whole town, decide you like the look of it, and offer to purchase the entire thing lock, stock, and barrel because you've got some money in the bank and some big ideas. That's how Kim Basinger lost every single one of the millions of dollars she made in her 1980s heyday.
Basinger had big dreams for the small Georgia town, which she believed she could turn into something akin to Disneyland and Hollywood all rolled into one, with plans for major film studios and a huge theme park. She paid $20m to buy it - an even bigger sum in the early 1980s than it is now - but her big dreams failed to become a reality. When she was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1983, all of her assets were sold. That included the town, which went for a $19m loss. Ouch.
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.