Muhammad Ail sells 80% of his name (which would be either MUHAMMAD A or HAMMAD ALI, depending where you started) for $50 million up front plus, to CKX, a licensing firm. Terms of deal here.
It can be argued that Muhammad Ali is the most famous person in the world but how would you measure that? Unaided awareness? Here’s a methodological problem – Who is the Pope? Who is Benedict XVI? and Who is Joseph Ratiznger? will produce different results (as will Who is the President of the U.S.? and Who Is George Bush?).
Maybe ‘Who Has The Most Recognized Face’ has a different answer than ‘Who Has The Most Recognized Name.’