Tiger Woods is not the only superstar to make millions off his talent and then to lose millions from excessive partying. Other stars that have had endorsements pulled include swimmer Michael Phelps and model Kate Moss.
Michael Phelps is still known as one of the greatest swimmers and Olympians of all time after he won 14 Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian. But in 2009, the British tabloid News of the World caught Phelps smoking marijuana and all hell broke loose.
What he lost? Besides his clean-cut image, Phelps lost a then very lucrative Kellogg deal, valued at $250 000. Many of Kellogg’s cereal boxes with Phelps’s picture on them disappeared after he was dropped and have since showed up on e-Bay as souvenirs.
Kate Moss is a British supermodel who has appeared on more than 300 magazine covers around the world. In 2004, The Daily Mirror ran a full pictorial spread showing the model snorting cocaine at a West London recording studio.
What she lost? Moss lost major modeling contracts with H&M, Chanel and Burberry, which was estimated at millions of pounds. Apparently the damage to her modeling career didn’t last though as in 2007 she came in second on the Forbes top-earning models list, earning an estimated £6,500,00 (approximately R66 million) in one year.
poached white rhino. It was really sad, but an opportunity to teach the boys about poaching and how important it is to respect animals. Fortuately the scene was made better when the boys spotted a five week old giraffe and its proud parents standing close by. The kids loved the reserve and certainly enjoyed the two-way radios and sun roofs even more. As a lot of the guys had their tops down, the boys were standing on the seats with their heads sticking out of the top of the vehicles, calling to each other — not great for game viewing, but they were having a ball. After a picnic lunch break, it was time to get the mud flying. We didn’t need to ask the boys to get back into the vehicles, they were all in and ready. Gift had become so attached to Sean (from Gtribe) that when Sean wasn’t in our vehicle when the engine started Gift calmly asked, “Where’s my daddy?” The 4x4 track was certainly the highlight of the day. The first obstacle was a ravine crossing on a bridge of gum poles. JoJo and Gift shouted to their friends to watch as we navigated through axle twisters and up and down steep inclines. At one point, we reached a steep incline of about 40 metres. As we idled at the bottom awaiting our turn, Gift told us he was scared and wasn’t sure about going up. JoJo was in the back shouting, “Go, go, go!” Once Gift saw his friends had made it up with no problems, he turned to us and said, “If they can go up, I can go up”. So slowly, but surely we went up. Their excitement was contagious. It reminded me of the first time I ever went off road in my Jeep. Every obstacle from there on out just got better and more exciting. The day finally ended with a prize-giving where each boy received a Captain Courageous medal and a replica Jeep Wrangler JK, bought for them by MSE South Africa and Zone Offroad. Raffle tickets bought by the drivers managed to raise an additional R3900 for RFDF. The day was as wonderful for us as it was for those boy and we can’t wait to do it all again in March 2011. Hope to see you there!
Finding that perfect gift to show someone that you really care, or to get them to help you regain your rightful place on your throne, can be tricky. In the case of the famous Egyptian queen and femme fatale, Cleopatra, it was imperative that her gift to Julius Caesar not only capture his attention, but also encourage him to back her in her fight against her power hungry brother Ptolemy XIII who had stolen her crown. So what did she give him? Cleopatra sent Caesar the largest, finest, most opulent Persian carpet on the planet. And as if that weren’t enough, she gave it a little priceless touch by rolling herself in it. Legend has it that when Caesar unrolled the beautiful carpet, Cleopatra, dressed in nothing much at all, jumped out. It’s safe to presume that Caesar was pleased with his gift because shortly after the delivery, Roman reinforcements were deployed to Egypt and Cleopatra was safely restored to her throne. Oh, and Cleopatra also gave birth to a son whom she promptly named Ptolemy Caesar. Say no more.
A little bit of butter, some sugar, some dark chocolate and a handful of roasted almonds and… wham, you’re in Italy. When high-school friends Brandon Weimer and Leah Post told their parents about a school trip to Italy, their parents said they could only afford to pay half. Not about to say ciao to the opportunity, Brandon and Leah came up with an idea on how to make a quick buck. Never did they imagine that their plan would create so many bucks, that they could travel the entire world. The plan? Brandini Toffee. Brandon remembered his grandmother’s delicious toffee recipe, which they made and sold. Soon they had sold enough toffee to send them on tour… and then on to college and then to send their siblings to college too. Even more awesome than that, Brandon and Leah have appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, and their toffee was a Martha Stewart Best Dessert for 2008 and was selected for Oprah’s O-List online. They have also won the Sofi Gold for “Outstanding Chocolate 2008” and have been selected as a finalist in the 2010 Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards. Now, four years later the teenage business tycoons have even opened their very own Brandini retail store and toffee factory in Palm Springs, USA. Brandon and Leah took time out from their university classes to attend their grand opening, which was a huge success. They’re still at university? Good for them!
Mukesh Ambani is India’s maharaja of money. The 53-year old businessman boasts a $29-billion net worth from petroleum and petrochemical powerhouse Reliance Industries, which has actually only managed him a pitiful fourth position on Forbes’ Top Ten Billionaires of 2010 list. Beating him is the world’s current richest man, Mexico’s Carlo Slim Helu ($53.5 billion), then Bill Gates ($53 billion) and Warren Buffett ($47billion). But Ambani has something the others don’t have. He has the most expensive house in history! This is not a massive problem for the others given the house is a rather unattractive monstrosity that towers above Mumbai and offers uninterrupted views of the Arabian Sea and the slums. But, what it lacks in looks it makes up for in lustre. The 37 000 square metre (roughly three football fields) abode spreads up over 27 floors and is home to just six people: Ambani, Mrs Ambani, three bambino Ambanis and the motherin-law. It offers unique features like an ice room complete with snowflakes to combat the heat, three balconies with rolling lawns and fully-grown trees and a basement car park with 168 bays. And if you’d prefer to fly then you can land on any of the three helipads on the roof. Although the house has been criticized for its excess, there are more like it popping up because India now boasts 69 billionaires— triple that of 2008. Its economy has been defying global trends with an 8% growth due to a large domestic market, rapid growth in industry and low labour costs. Recently a new record was set when 148 Mercedes-Benzes were delivered to a smaller city near Mumbai, all on a single day. Jai ho (victory) indeed!
Ivana Trump said it best: Don’t get mad, get everything! And wronged spouses everywhere have been doing just that— can you say Elin Woods? But Elin isn’t the only ex-partner to depart with half the cash cow. The most costly divorces in history include that of Michael Jordan and Neil Diamond. Both men were forced to pay their wives $150 million dollars when they split. Michael’s wife Juanita earned her money as she assisted in his endorsement deals and to some extent so did Marcia Diamond, who stayed married to the Love On the Rocks singer for 17 years. Harrison Ford’s first wife Melissa Mathison got away with a whopping $85 million in their divorce settlement, while Cindy Silva, Kevin Costner’s wife of 16 years, received an estimated $80 million. Luckily Paul McCartney knew that love isn’t all you need. He got himself a decent attorney when divorcing Heather Mills and got away with paying just $60 million— not bad considering his fortune is worth $700 million! And while every celebrity knows the importance of a pre-nuptial agreement, some are a little sketchy on the legalities. Steven Spielberg was shocked to discover that a napkin is not a legally binding document when he was forced to pay Amy Irving $100 million after she signed their pre-nuptial on a piece of cloth. And if you’re really in a pickle, take a leaf out of Mick Jagger’s book and go with denial. Faced with a messy divorce with Jerry Hall, Mick challenged the legality of their 1990 marriage. The marriage was miraculously annulled and Mick only ended up forking out $15 million of that mega Rolling Stones fortune. Lesson? Steer clear of that bouquet at weddings!
In June 2010, Ozzy (bite-the-head-off-abat) Osbourne and Keith (fall-from-a-palm-tree) Richards were hailed by scientists at a US based genetic-research company as potential ‘super humans’. Now for anyone who has ever seen Richards or heard Osbourne this would seem rather unbelievable. Both bear the clear signs of a lifelong love affair with booze and drugs. What the scientists are asking however, is how the Black Sabbath frontman and Rolling Stones Lead guitarist are still standing? Ozzy happily submitted a sample of his blood to shed light on whether his resilience to… well, death derives from some superior DNA. And although Richards has yet to submit his blood, his ability to consume truckloads of contraband and keep ticking is as impressive as Ozzy’s. Richards, who has always been very open about his substance abuse, shocked the world in 2007 when he told NME magazine that his father’s ashes went up his nose. “I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn’t have cared... It went down pretty well, and I’m still alive.” Super Human, indeed.