Jain, who was born in India and holds a master's in business administration from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been on investors' lists of potential successors the longest, says Tom Russo, a partner at Gardner Russo & Gardner in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Jain specializes in so-called mega-catastrophe coverage, taking on risks rivals shun. He insured Chicago's Sears Tower, North America's tallest building; the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001; slugger Alex Rodriguez's health after he signed the biggest contract in Major League Baseball history in 2000 at $252 million over 10 years; and a sweepstakes by Purchase, New York-based PepsiCo Inc. in which a contestant had a chance to win $1 billion.

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