Tiger Woods is already in rare air for his accomplishments on the golf course, but he has reached yet another impressive feat. Forbes is now estimating that Woods’ net worth is at least $1 billion, which would make him one of only three athlete billionaires in the world.
Woods joins Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the other two athletes as James was just estimated to be worth over $1 billion just last week.
Forbes notes that James earned $121.1 million gross over the last 12 months while still an active NBA player and that Jordan didn’t make the list until 2014, years after he had retired.
One interesting note from the report is that Forbes believes less than 10 percent of Woods’ net worth comes from earnings on the golf course. His sponsorship and endorsement deals through Nike, TaylorMade, Gatorade and Monster Energy, which is featured prominently on his golf bag, have all largely contributed.
Woods, similar to James, doesn’t consider himself as just an athlete and has gotten into ownership as well as course design. TGR Design, TGR Live, an event company, and TGR Ventures are all part of Woods’ portfolio.
He recently got into a new category of golf with a stake in PopStroke, a luxury mini-golf organization that has multiple locations in Florida.
Woods has seen his net worth continue to grow despite going through a series of events in 2009, including a Thanksgiving car crash, that resulted in multiple sponsors dropping him that included Buick. Even over the last 12 months, while recovering from another car crash, Forbes states that Woods has made $68 million in off-course income.
That figure alone, with only playing in The Masters and PGA Championship over the last few months, and participating in no tournaments during the 2021 calendar year, would make him the 14th-highest-paid athlete in the world.