Woods first athlete to earn $1 billion

I have nothing against golf as a game, and I've played it a few times myself, but the idea that there's <i>this</i> much money floating around just in sticking logos on the shirts of guys who hit balls into holes to persuade other guys to buy new sticks with which to hit other balls into holes makes me feel like there's an awful lot of money being wasted.

Tiger Woods should be lauded. No crazy spending sprees. No expensive divorces. No being taken advantage of by friends and "business associates." No loss in risky business ventures.<p>He not only earned the money. He retained it too.

I found this amusing and a little thought-provoking:<p>"Forbes says Tiger Woods has become the first athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings.<p>"The magazine estimates that golf's top-ranked player crested the plateau when he earned $10 million for winning the FedEx Cup on Sunday.<p>"Forbes reported on its Web site on Tuesday that Woods entered 2009 having earned $895 million since he joined the PGA Tour in 1996. Prize money, appearance fees, endorsement fees, bonuses and his golf course design business were calculated to have pushed him over $1 billion.<p>"The magazine says former NBA great Michael Jordan and former Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, at $800 million and $700 million, respectively, are Woods' closest competition in career earnings.<p>"More golf: Watson takes 2-shot lead"<p>So we have this stupendous amount of money discussed for four paragraphs, and then the cliché "And in other news..." is that Watson has taken a two shot lead somewhere or other. The implication that both datums are of roughly equal interest to the reader is amusing and makes me curious. Is it a machine that decides that? Or does a human actually believe that after reading about Tiger having earned a billion dollars the reader will next want to turn back to the details of a match instead of thinking more about investments and careers?

I guess Lebron didnt have his wish come true of becoming the 1st Billion dollar athlete. But he's got many more years to come. Im sure he will surpass that number. As it is whatever his new contract is after this season, and whereever it is, is going to be worth a ridiculous amount. Try the possibility of a $50 million per year deal with a European team. Not to mention the Nike deal, the movie being released this year, the management company, a profitable and public relationship with the greatest rapper on the planet (Jay-Z), and many more endorsements. Who knows, maybe he'll be the first $2 billion dollar athlete. He taking a page from the book or "Jordan". Brand yourself, and take away from the game, more than just championships, and shoes. But a name that is worth even more.<p>Its like his friend Jay-Z said, "Im not a businessman, Im A Business, man."

I'm quietly pleased that the world had a billionaire author before a billionaire sportsperson.

Can someone point me in the direction of why this is HN worthy? I'm missing the connection here.