Headquarters: 1 Lime Street, City of London, London EC3M 7, United Kingdom
http://www.lloyds.com
2009 Annual Profit: £3.87 billion
Key Officers: Lord Levene of Portsoken KBE, Chairman of Lloyd’s; Dr Richard Ward, Chief Executive Officer; Tom Bolt, Director, Performance Management
Lloyd’s of London offers just about any kind of insurance, whether it’s insuring actress Marlene Dietrich’s legs; Ugly Betty star America Ferrera’s smile for $10 million; a “happiness policy” that insured against worry lines developing on a model’s face; even Santa’s beard—the professional Father Christmas at Macy’s department store in New York.
The famed Lloyd’s building (also known as the “inside-out building”) took eight years to complete. Connecting escalators fill the inside of the structure from top to bottom, with upper levels glassed-in and only able to be reached by outside elevators.
The building houses the famous Lutine Bell, which was originally used to communicate whether or not a ship made it safely to its intended port (two rings, the ship had arrived safely; one ring, the ship had sunk). Now it is just for ceremonial use, like a distinguished guest (two rings) or a major catastrophe, such as September 11th and the Asian Tsunami (one ring).
Sources: Lloyds.com, telegraph.co.uk, thisislondon.co.uk
Compiled by Life Quotes, Inc. staff
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