Gisele has reportedly struck a blow for MAFXTWs (model/ actress/ FX trader/ whatevers) everywhere by refusing to accept payment for her work in dollars. According to Bloomberg, her ‘people’ are now demanding that her employers – who include Procter & Gamble – pay her solely in euros, due to the dwindling value of the dollar.
Not content with being the world’s richest supermodel ($33m last year, according to Forbes), Gisele was apparently very keen that the dollar’s current weakness against the euro and the pound does not leave her out of YSL-clad pocket (or at least, her bankers are).
However, no doubt fearing that this dollar-bashing might not go down too well in the US, her PR people have since tried to distance her from the reports, telling CNBC that someone in Brazil made the whole thing up.
If so, that would be a serious disappointment - because here at MT, we think her involvement in this debate is a very welcome development. After all, Gisele may not have been the first savvy investor to speak out against the dollar – but for reasons that we’re far too naive to understand, her point of view has received much wider coverage than that of veteran traders Warren Buffett and Jim Rogers...
In fact, we’re firmly of the belief that the world of high finance would be far more accessible if other models came out in favour of particular economic positions. Before long we could have Kate Moss warning of the dangers of the yen carry trade, Heidi Klum highlighting the bubble in the Chinese stock market, and Jordan extolling the virtues of stub equity in public-to-private transactions.
Stranger things have happened.
