Tiger Woods , Sport’s First Billionaire

Tiger Wood, born December 30, 1975 and is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. He currently the World No. 1, he was the highest-paid professional athlete in 2008, having earned an estimated $110 million from winnings and endorsements.

Woods has won 14 professional major golf championships, the second highest of any male player, and 71 PGA Tour events, third all time. He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour. Additionally, Woods is the second golfer to have achieved a career grand slam three times along with Jack Nicklaus. Woods has won 16 World Golf Championships and has won at least one event each of the 11 years they have been in existence.

However a lot of people asking, how did a golfer ever get so rich? According to Forbes, Tiger Woods has become the first person to make a billion dollars out of a career in sport. The magazine has calculated Woods’s earnings since he turned professional in 1996, and worked out that, after he earned $10m for winning the FedEx Cup, the combined tally of prize money, appearance fees, endorsements, and earnings from his flourishing golf design business has now surpassed the billion dollar barrier.

Woods, who is still only 33 and could conceivably keep playing at the top level for the next 15 years, has won 14 Major titles, and is able to charge up to $3m for playing tournaments in the Middle East. Sharply-dressed, well-behaved and, if a little private, a marketing man’s dream, he’s signed numerous lucrative endorsement deals.

Since his record-breaking win at the 1997 Masters Tournament, golf’s increased popularity is attributed to Woods’ presence. He is credited for dramatically increasing prize money in golf, generating interest in new audiences as the first non-white person to win the Masters, and for drawing the largest TV audiences in golf history. He has been named “Athlete of the Decade” by the Associated Press in December 2009.
In the “I’m Tiger Woods” advertising campaign, his profile has allowed Nike, which was starting from scratch, to turn into a major name in the golf equipment and clothing industry.

Woods has a drink named after him – ‘Gatorade Tiger’, and helped to design a special watch for Tag Heuer, which is able to resist the sort of shock you get from a golf swing gone wrong. He also has deals with the management consultants Accenture, Electronic Arts video games and, along with Roger Federer and Thierry Henry, Gillette razors.

Also, by linking up with property deals, he can charge an awful lot for the courses that his company – Tiger Woods Design – is making in Dubai, North Carolina and Mexico.