Tiger Woods has become the first athlete to earn $1 billion. Woods has been absolute sickness on the golf course for over a decade. I thought I had reached a point where every accomplishment and superlative about this guy would roll off my back. Like, yeah, whatever, he's awesome, we get it. This milestone gives me pause, and it isn't even a purely athletic achievement--that billion includes endorsements. One sportswriter said this week that Tiger is a brand, and it stands for success, and success sells. But I prefer Mitch Albom's reaction, which was "A BILLION DOLLARS!!??" Seriously. They say that the first million is the hardest, and now Tiger woods can tell us how easy the next 999 million were. I mean, normally in this country, if you want to earn a billion dollars, don't you have to screw some people out of it? That's what I think is so impressive about this. Woods has his own sportswear, I know, but it isn't like he has created and captured a market like Oprah did. His market already existed, and had for some time. So what is more behind Tiger's billion--is it his freakish ability, or is it his ability to market himself?
October 7, 2009
The Billion Dollar Man
Tiger Woods has become the first athlete to earn $1 billion. Woods has been absolute sickness on the golf course for over a decade. I thought I had reached a point where every accomplishment and superlative about this guy would roll off my back. Like, yeah, whatever, he's awesome, we get it. This milestone gives me pause, and it isn't even a purely athletic achievement--that billion includes endorsements. One sportswriter said this week that Tiger is a brand, and it stands for success, and success sells. But I prefer Mitch Albom's reaction, which was "A BILLION DOLLARS!!??" Seriously. They say that the first million is the hardest, and now Tiger woods can tell us how easy the next 999 million were. I mean, normally in this country, if you want to earn a billion dollars, don't you have to screw some people out of it? That's what I think is so impressive about this. Woods has his own sportswear, I know, but it isn't like he has created and captured a market like Oprah did. His market already existed, and had for some time. So what is more behind Tiger's billion--is it his freakish ability, or is it his ability to market himself?
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the number really is astonishing...I remember when Lebron as a rookie said he wanted to be the first black billionaire...I thought that there was no way you could become a billionaire as an athlete. Of course Tiger isn't a billionaire per say, but at least it seems very possible.
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