LIV Golf (Saudi PIF), "Mergers," and More

[iacas]

29 minutes ago, turtleback said:

How does a guy have $57 million in career earnings, plus endorsements, and only have an estimated net worth of $25 million?

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Is Jon Rahm's net worth supposedly only $25M?

[mdl]

1 hour ago, turtleback said:

How does a guy have $57 million in career earnings, plus endorsements, and only have an estimated net worth of $25 million?

You know we have the large societies we do through government which is funded through taxes, so earnings doesn't equal money in the bank? 😉

[Zeph]

When comparing money across decades, keep inflation in mind. $100 in 2003 is worth $165 in 2023 according to this. There's also more money in sports in general today than before. The LIV players are still ridiculously overpaid with money coming from oil.

[ChetlovesMer]

11 hours ago, turtleback said:

How does a guy have $57 million in career earnings, plus endorsements, and only have an estimated net worth of $25 million?

I'm not sure who we are referring to here. But that doesn't at all seem out of line. 

Today in America it's pretty common to have to pay out about half of your gross income in taxes. This is when you include Federal, State and City Taxes. Plus sales tax, capital gains tax, marriage penalty tax, luxury tax and property tax. Many Americans pay more than half their income in taxes if they live in a high tax city or state. Or if their income is especially high. Where my wife and I live, for example, our Property Tax Payment is getting close to about twice our Mortgage Payment, and that's not really uncommon. 

The idea is to offset at least some of these taxes by investing a chunk of what you earn. If this guy you are referring to, made a couple of not great investments, he may not have much that offset these taxes. He may also have purchased something like a multi-million-dollar home which has, for what ever reason, gone down in value. Or perhaps he is in the process of starting up a business venture that hasn't taken off yet. 

Here's another way to think about it. Estimate how much money you've earned in your career. Then take a look at your net-worth. This guy's net worth is about 44% of his earnings. I can tell you our household's net worth is not near 44% of our lifetime earnings. Plus, this guy may have had to pay a percentage to a caddie, and/or an agent right off the top. 

 

[GolfLug]

Retaining 40%+ of pre-tax earnings in net worth over ones lifetime is damn good.

[StuM]

1 hour ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Where my wife and I live, for example, our Property Tax Payment is getting close to about twice our Mortgage Payment, and that's not really uncommon. 

I get what you are saying, but not a good measure. Once your mortgage is paid off your taxes would no longer be twice your mortgage. 

[GolfLug]

18 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

Is it really though?

Yes. It is no secret that their pockets are deep. Deep like, ths might be MBS' lunch money. 

What's scary is that they might be just one Rory conversion away from completely wrecking men's professional golf. 

[turtleback]

15 hours ago, iacas said:

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Is Jon Rahm's net worth supposedly only $25M?

 

That's what came up when I did a Google search on Jon Rahm's net worth.

[Zeph]

1 hour ago, turtleback said:

That's what came up when I did a Google search on Jon Rahm's net worth.

Bunkered.co.uk mention $25m, but they reference Celebrity Net Worth, which suggests $100m.

Bunkered also share some amusing quotes:

Quote

But despite Rahm’s huge financial success, he has also stressed throughout his career that he is more interested than his legacy than the sum in his bank account.

He reiterated that he did not become an elite sportsman for the financial rewards when he was being linked with a move to the new Saudi-backed LIV Golf League in 2022.

“Yeah, money is great, but when (his wife) Kelley and I – this first thing happened, we started talking about it, and we’re like, will our lifestyle change if I got $400 million? No, it will not change one bit,” he said.

“Truth be told, I could retire right now with what I’ve made and live a very happy life and not play golf again. So I’ve never really played the game of golf for monetary reasons. I play for the love of the game, and I want to play against the best in the world."

“I’ve always been interested in history and legacy, and right now the PGA Tour has that.”

That was $400m though. If he gets up to $600m, maybe it changes things after all.

[GaLefty]

21 hours ago, jxdama said:

MSN

The  best  course  of action for the  PGA now  is to make a  deal with LIV and  move  on.

I'm afraid you're right.  The sooner the better, also.  This is a war the PGA tour can't win.

[Big C]

I'm actually surprised it took this long for the next domino to fall. The minute the Tour announced it was entering into a partnership with the PIF, it's basically a tacit admission that all their grandstanding about ethics and "doing the right" thing was just a facade. 

I'm sad to see the news, but I don't begrudge Rahm. He's going to earn 10x his lifetime salary in 3 years. And he probably figured that since he's going to be in business with the PIF - either directly or indirectly - why not take the massive payday while it's there. 

[GaLefty]

2 hours ago, Big C said:

The minute the Tour announced it was entering into a partnership with the PIF, it's basically a tacit admission that all their grandstanding about ethics and "doing the right" thing was just a facade. 

 

I'm not sure the tour really had a choice.  The Saudis have an unlimited legal budget, too.  They were going to litigate the tour into bolivian as Mike Tyson once said.  If they are using sports to whitewash their reputation, in my eyes, it is having the opposite effect.

[Vinsk]

3 hours ago, Big C said:

The minute the Tour announced it was entering into a partnership with the PIF, it's basically a tacit admission that all their grandstanding about ethics and "doing the right" thing was just a facade

So Rahm was pissed at the PGAT and felt betrayed. Of course when the offer was 300M he remained loyal to the PGAT, but when 500+M came…yeah…he was really pissed at the PGAT.😃

[Big C]

1 hour ago, GaLefty said:

I'm not sure the tour really had a choice.  The Saudis have an unlimited legal budget, too.  They were going to litigate the tour into bolivian as Mike Tyson once said.  If they are using sports to whitewash their reputation, in my eyes, it is having the opposite effect.

That may be true. Perhaps the partnership was the best of several bad options they had available to them. 

But it's easy to see how it could make it easier for the big name players to say "screw it" and take the money. 

[jxdama]

13 hours ago, GaLefty said:

I'm afraid you're right.  The sooner the better, also.  This is a war the PGA tour can't win.

Finau and Hatton reported to be  in talks to join Liv. 

[GaLefty]

I've heard Homa too.  I think they know they can get a big payday and still be back on the PGA tour soon.

[ChetlovesMer]

23 hours ago, StuM said:

I get what you are saying, but not a good measure. Once your mortgage is paid off your taxes would no longer be twice your mortgage. 

Ha ha, fair enough. 

You are, of course, correct.

That was more me just bitching about how high property tax is where I live than really adding to the conversation. ... I try not to miss any opportunities to bitch about how high my taxes are. It's a bit of a sore spot with me. 

[Vinsk]

Unfortunately whatever’s been said by PGAT players apparently means nothing until it does.