- Tiger Woods beat the odds to win the 2019 Masters Tournament.
- The famous golfer now has a net worth of $800 million.
- Though he leads the sport of golf in career earnings, most of his money comes from sponsorships and other work, like golf-course design.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Following is a transcript of the video
Narrator: Hardly anyone was expecting Tiger Woods to make a comeback. Leading up to the 2019 Masters, betting odds had the likelihood of a Tiger Woods win at 14-1.
Jemele Hill: The next press release Tiger Woods should release should be "I'm retiring."
Stephen A. Smith: I stopped believing in him years ago!
Shannon Sharpe: He will never ever be that guy again.
Narrator: Woods upset the odds to win his fifth Masters championship. Flashback to 10 years ago, Tiger Woods was disgraced amid a cheating scandal, a costly divorce, a break from golfing, and, later, a DUI. The star of the sport seemed to have lost it all.
The shocking 2019 Masters win marked a historic return to form by one of the most successful athletes in history, who has earned a total of $1.4 billion since turning pro in 1996.
Here's how Tiger Woods, who's sitting on an estimated $800 million net worth, makes and spends his millions.
Tiger Woods leads his sport in career prize winnings with an estimated total of $122.5 million. The 2019 Tour Championship earned Woods one of his biggest paydays, with $4.6 million.
But Woods makes most of his money outside of competition. The bulk of his income is from endorsement deals. During the peak of Woods' golfing career, he made $100 million annually off the course. A multiyear deal with Bridgestone Golf to play exclusively with its golf balls is estimated to be worth $1 million to $2 million a year. For his clubs, Woods has signed with TaylorMade for an undisclosed amount, and his signature irons are now available for $2,000. His previous club deal with Nike was worth about $11 million per year. Woods also has endorsement deals for undisclosed amounts with Rolex and sports-card maker Upper Deck. The star also reportedly brings in $2 million a year from his deal with Monster Beverage.
His apparel, however, still flaunts the logo of his most loyal sponsor, Nike. Woods has been sponsored by Nike for the entirety of his professional career. They stuck with him through all the scandals when many others dropped him. In addition to lost endorsements, Woods' 2010 divorce settlement was reported to have cost him $100 million, about one-sixth of his fortune at the time. It's estimated that his Nike deal has been worth up to $20 million per year, likely varying based on performance. With so many eyes on Woods and his comeback, more lucrative deals may be heading his way.
But it's not all sponsorships and competition. Another major moneymaker is Woods' golf-course design work. He opened his first US course in Houston in 2015 and has designed 10 courses so far, including a golf course for the Trump World Golf Club in Dubai, which is still in development.
The partnership isn't surprising, considering that Trump and Woods have occasionally played golf together and that in 2019 Woods was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Trump.
Woods also has his own restaurant. He reportedly invested about $8 million of his own money into building The Woods Jupiter.
So as Woods gets closer to billionaire status, how else does he spend his fortune and free time? For one, Woods likes to travel in style. He bought a 155-foot yacht named Privacy for $20 million in 2004. Woods also owns a Gulfstream G550 private jet, which is worth about $54 million. He reportedly flew commercial for the first time in 10 years in 2017. When he isn't traveling, Woods is at his $55 million home in Jupiter, Florida. The 10-acre estate was built from scratch for Woods and features a pitch-and-putt golf course, as well as a private dock.
And golf isn't the only sport Woods enjoys. He's a diehard Raiders fan. He's shown off his Raiders pool table online and often attends games. Spearfishing is another passion of his. In 2002, Woods even called in sick to his only tune-up tournament before the British Open so that he could go spearfishing.
And he's also a gamer. During an interview with Stephen Colbert in 2016, Woods shared that he played "Call of Duty" eight hours a day while recovering from back surgery.
Tiger Woods: When 7-year-olds are beating you from around the world...humbling.
Narrator: Woods also works with kids through his charity for at-risk youth, the Tiger Woods Foundation. Over the years, Woods has reportedly donated $12 million to the foundation. He also works with the TGR Learning Lab to provide opportunities for students to explore different passions through science.
With all this fortune, it's clear that golf courses aren't the only green Tiger Woods sees.