Supermodel Gisele and the declining dollar

You'll probably be seeing many more excerpts here from stories appearing in the online edition of the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph since they saw fit to include this humble little blog in their list of External and relevant links for their Subprime crisis special feature.

The story of Supermodel Gisele and her shrewd business acumen has been seen in a number of places over the last day or two, the most dreary report appearing in Bloomberg titled Supermodel Bundchen Joins Hedge Funds Dumping Dollars". But, none captured the story as well as the Telegraph in their account of the latest high-profile investor to lose confidence in the buck.

She's probably thinking about all her current dollar denominated investments as she makes her way down the runway in the photo below.

Brazilian Supermodel Gisele Bündchen is refusing to accept payment in US dollars while the currency remains so weak.

Proving that she has business sense to match her beauty, the former girlfriend of actor Leonardo DiCaprio, has said that she is willing to be paid in nearly any currency apart from the dollar to maximise her earnings.

According to Bloomberg, Patricia Bündchen, the model's twin sister and manager said: "Contracts starting now are more attractive in euros because we don't know what will happen to the dollar."

The newswire said that when she signed a new contract in August with American company Procter & Gamble to advertise Pantene hair products, the deal included the stipulation that she be paid in euros. P&G declined to comment on the terms of the deal.
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According to US magazine Forbes Ms Bündchen is the highest-earning model in the world. She follows in the footsteps of wealthy investors Warren Buffett and Bill Gross who are turning their backs on the dollar in favour of stronger currencies.

Buffet, Gross, Jim Rogers, and now Gisele.

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UPDATE: Nov 6, 2007, 12:10 PM PST

In addition to the editorial page as noted in the comments below, this story also appeared in the back of section C (Money and Investing) in today's Wall Street Journal with a little teaser at the top of the front page of this section.

Mark to Supermodel
Gisele Bündchen has a Wall Street-size income of $30 million a year. Make that €21 million. The Brazilian supermodel is reported to have demanded that her contracts be valued in euros, not the unstable greenback. The 27-year old clearly isn't just another pretty face.

The dollar has long been the reference currency of the world. It is the measure for global gross domestic product and Israeli real-estate prices, not to mention the value of the Chinese yuan. So, it used to be natural for a multinational contract -- as Ms. Bündchen negotiated to represent Procter & Gamble's Pantene hair products -- to be priced in the U.S. currency.

Setting pay in dollars now looks like rank speculation, with the dollar earner taking inferior odds. The U.S. has a big trade deficit, low interest rates and a government that doesn't seem particularly fussed about its international monetary standing. Furthermore, the euro is now a plausible and solid alternative.

A one-of-a-kind such as Ms. Bündchen is in an especially good position to negotiate. But some of the superstars of Wall Street and the City of London financial district probably could follow her lovely example -- in this domain at least. Almost all of the big banks, even the European ones, keep their books and set their bonuses in dollars. Jet-setting bankers could rebel. In these days of mortgage troubles, the phrase mark-to-model usually causes shivers on Wall Street. But mark-to-supermodel could be a different story for international financiers.

True or not, it is an irresistible story.