Tiger Woods is on track to be the world's first billionaire athlete in the next couple of years.
Even though Tiger Woods is done playing golf for the year due to injury, Forbes Magazine is reporting that Tiger is on his way to exceed $1 billion in earning by 2010. Woods won the U.S. Open last month playing on a bad knee winning more than $1.3 million and last year he earned a total of $117 million in winnings and endorsements. As far as the billion dollar mark in 2010, Forbes' calculation was based on Woods' estimated earnings in the annual rich list dating back to 1996, when he turned pro, and also credited the world number one golfer with annualized investment returns of 8 percent.
"Based on those criteria, we project Tiger Woods should join our list of the world's billionaires in 2011," said the magazine. "It will be an unprecedented occurrence."Forbes also mentioned other very rich athletes, including billionaire champion sailor Ernesto Bertarelli, but the difference is that Tiger is earning his loot through sports, while Bertarelli earned his fortune by other means. Most of Tiger's loot comes from endorsement deals with the likes of Nike, Gillette, Buick, and Gatorade. He's earned $90 million so far this year in endorsements and over $750 million in his career so far.
This story comes courtesy of AOL Black Voices.