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The list of active billionaire athletes has now doubled with the long-anticipated addition of golf legend Tiger Woods.
Just days after Forbes estimated LeBron James‘s net worth to be north of $1 billion, the financial news outlet is now pegging Woods’s fortune at more than $1.7 billion, including winnings, endorsements and other investments.
Remarkably, Woods reached the billion-dollar plateau without taking money from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, which pried rival Phil Mickelson away from the PGA Tour with a reported $200 million contract. That tour was prepared to give Woods a ‘mind-blowingly enormous [deal],’ LIV Golf CEO Greg Normal told the Washington Post: ‘We’re talking about high nine digits.’
Woods and James joined another Nike-endorsed athlete, Michael Jordan, as the only athletes – active or retired – with billion-dollar fortunes.
The list of active billionaire athletes has now doubled with the addition of Tiger Woods
Woods (right) joins fellow Nike-spokesman Michael Jordan (left) in the billionaire athlete club
As is the case with Jordan and James, Woods’s wealth is largely the result of endorsement deals and other entrepreneurial endeavors, rather than income tied directly to playing sports.
Forbes estimates that 10 percent of Woods’ net worth is derived from his golf winnings, while his deals with Nike, TaylorMade, Gatorade and Monster Energy make up the bulk of his fortune.
Woods has been battling leg issues since he was nearly killed in one-car crash in southern California last year, but that hasn’t stopped his cash flow.
The 15-time major winner, who recently pulled out of next week’s US Open to continue rehabbing his 46-year-old body, earned $121.1 million over the last 12 months, including $68 million in off-course income, according to Forbes. In fact, Woods has earned only $200,000 on the course over the last year.
Similarly, Woods continued to make millions after his 2017 DUI arrest in Florida and his public divorce from wife Elin Nordegren, who, along with the rest of the country, learned about her husband’s laundry list of extramarital affairs in 2009.
Woods paid a reported $110 million in his 2010 divorce settlement with Nordegren, which appears to have delayed his ascension to the billionaire ranks.
Gold Digest had estimated Woods earned around $770 million between 1996, when he turned pro, until 2007, and predicted he would break the billion-dollar mark soon thereafter.
Like James, Woods has his own companies, too, such as course-design firm TGR Design and an event company, TGR Live.
And he’s not too rich for mini-golf, having recently invested in a luxury brand named PopStroke that has several locations across Florida.
Woods has enjoyed other revenue streams as well, including the PGA Tour’s Player Impact program, which rewarded him $8 million last year based purely on his online popularity.
Tiger Woods has his own yacht, which reportedly cost the PGA legend $20 million
Woods spent a reported $54 million on his luxurious mansion on Florida’s Jupiter Island
Woods has been paid handsomely by Nike, first inking a $40 million deal when he turned pro in 1996, and then adding a $100 million deal with the apparel brand five years later
Much of Woods’s wealth comes from brands he’s endorsed, like Buick. However, the car maker actually severed ties with Woods after his extramarital affairs were exposed in 2009
Woods paid a reported $110 million in his 2010 divorce settlement with Nordegren, which appears to have delayed his ascension to the billionaire ranks. The 15-time major winner is seen, right, wearing the green jacket at Augusta following his first Masters title in 1997
Doctors said Woods was lucky to survive his 2021 single-car crash in in southern California
Most famously, Woods has been paid handsomely by Nike, first inking a $40 million deal when he turned pro in 1996, and then adding a $100 million deal with the apparel brand five years later.
Woods, who previously ranked as Forbes’ highest-paid athlete for 10 consecutive years, is also well positioned for retirement, thanks to his reported $20 million PGA Tour pension.
His wealth can hardly be described as inconspicuous.
Woods bought a yacht for a reported $20 million in 2004, and has a $54.5 million mansion on a 12-acre estate in Jupiter Island, Florida, not to mention a private jet and a fleet of luxury cars. He can also save a few dollars if he’s feeling thrifty by dining at The Woods Jupiter, his flagship restaurant located a few miles away from his estate.
Woods can save a few dollars if he’s feeling thrifty by dining at The Woods Jupiter, his flagship restaurant located a few miles away from his estate
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