 |
| Tiger Woods |
Tiger Woods was the World’s No.1 professional golfer and the highest-paid professional athlete in the world, who also earned roughly $100 million each year in endorsement income. He was married to the Swedish ex-model, Elin Norgegren and had two beautiful children. Then, came a torrid sex scandal.
It turns out that Tiger Woods did not just have an affair – he had several, and the tabloids have been kept busy ever since, as more women come forward to add their names to the list. He later apologized publicly for cheating on his wife and underwent therapy. “I was unfaithful, I had affairs, I cheated,” Woods said.
In the ten trading days after the beginning of the scandal, firms with products endorsed by Woods suffered significant declines in stock market value. The top five sponsors (Accenture, Nike, Gillette, Electronic Arts and Gatorade) lost 2-3 percent of their aggregate market value after the accident, and his core three sponsors EA, Nike and PepsiCo (Gatorade) lost over four percent. This resulted a loss of about $35 million in sponsorship revenue for Woods in 2010. Ouch!