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Kurt Badenhausen is a senior editor at Forbes
The London Sun is reporting that Tiger Woods and wife Elin have reached a divorce settlement worth $750 million in exchange for her silence about her marriage to Woods (not sure what type of sordid stories she could possibly tell that we have not already heard from various Woods paramours). The settlement would imply that Woods is worth at least $1.5 billion. Is Tiger really worth that much? Not by our count.
We've been tracking Tiger's earnings since he turned pro in 1996. Last year he became the first athlete to earn a cumulative $1 billion through his income from prize money, appearance fees, endorsements and his golf course design business. Nike has been his biggest benefactor paying the world's top golfer in the neighborhood of $250 million since 1996. The relationship has obviously bolstered Nike as its golf division reported annual sales of $638 million last week. Tiger's annual earnings in 2010 will be down at least $30 million after sponsors like Accenture, AT&T and Gatorade walked away. He still earned $105 million over the past 12-months and ranks fifth on our recent list of the most powerful celebrities.
Yet those earnings are before the tax man and his agents at IMG took their cut. And if you think Tiger made a killing in the stock market, think again. The S&P 500 is at the same level it was at 12 years ago. By our count Woods is worth $600 million and any divorce settlement is likely to be worth a fraction of current reports.
The London Sun is reporting that Tiger Woods and wife Elin have reached a divorce settlement worth $750 million in exchange for her silence about her marriage to Woods (not sure what type of sordid stories she could possibly tell that we have not already heard from various Woods paramours). The settlement would imply that Woods is worth at least $1.5 billion. Is Tiger really worth that much? Not by our count.
We've been tracking Tiger's earnings since he turned pro in 1996. Last year he became the first athlete to earn a cumulative $1 billion through his income from prize money, appearance fees, endorsements and his golf course design business. Nike has been his biggest benefactor paying the world's top golfer in the neighborhood of $250 million since 1996. The relationship has obviously bolstered Nike as its golf division reported annual sales of $638 million last week. Tiger's annual earnings in 2010 will be down at least $30 million after sponsors like Accenture, AT&T and Gatorade walked away. He still earned $105 million over the past 12-months and ranks fifth on our recent list of the most powerful celebrities.
Yet those earnings are before the tax man and his agents at IMG took their cut. And if you think Tiger made a killing in the stock market, think again. The S&P 500 is at the same level it was at 12 years ago. By our count Woods is worth $600 million and any divorce settlement is likely to be worth a fraction of current reports.
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