Let’s answer the question in the headline right away:
Tiger Woods’ net worth is a lot of money.
More accurately, according to multiple sites that track this sort of thing, Woods’ net worth is estimated at around $800 million. But for most folks, when you start adding commas and zeroes, it’s hard to grasp what one “eight” and eight “zeroes” really mean, other than maybe “quite a bit.” So let’s have some fun and play a game that, while done before, maybe puts it all into better perspective.
2021 PNC viewer’s guide: How to watch Tiger Woods this week, TV schedule, tee times, streaming
We’ll start small. For Woods’ estimated net worth of $800 mil, you could buy 61,585,835 boxes, at $12.99 a pop, of Prime Time Western Birch Striped Golf Tees from GOLF.com’s Pro shop. (And have change left over.) At 50 tees per box, you’d have 3,079,291,750 tees. That’s a lot, too.
Let’s go a little bigger and look at the item you place upon the tee. For Woods’ net worth of $800 mil, you could pick up 16,670,139 boxes, at $47.99 per, of Tour B XS golf balls from Bridgestone, a company that sponsors Woods. (And have change left over.) At a dozen balls per box, you’d have 200,041,668 to knock around. Want to try to drive over that lake? Go for it.
Let’s take it one step further. Woods is playing with son Charlie in this week’s PNC Championship, the elder Woods’ first event since his car crash in late February. And for Woods’ net worth of $800 mil, you could cover the event’s $1,085,000 purse this year — for the next 737 years. (And have change left over.) Or until the year 2,758. And who knows how many Green Jackets Charlie Woods the 50th will have by then.
Who are the top 4 highest-paid athletes ever? Hint: 3 of them are golfers.
Where does Tiger get his riches from? According to Sportico, which ranked him in early November as the second-highest paid athlete of all time (behind only Michael Jordan), Woods’ money primarily comes from his golf salary (which is north of $120 million over his career); his endorsements (currently, he’s aligned with 2K Sports, Bridgestone, Centinel Spine, Discovery Communications, Inc, Full Swing, Hero Motocorp, Kowa Company Ltd., Monster Energy, Nike, Rolex, TaylorMade, Upper Deck, according to Forbes); his golf design business; and appearance fees. In all, the sports business website put Woods’ career earnings at $2.108 billion.
And, according to an expert interviewed by Sportico, Woods should continue to make money, even well past his playing days.
“With competitive careers that can span 30 years or more, golfers have the longest shelf life of any pro athletes,” Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing expert at Pinnacle Advertising, told Sportico. “Combine that with their global appeal across a broad and high-end fan demographic, and it’s no wonder so many rank high among the all-time earners in sports.”
