Foreclosures are forcing Americans from their homes, the unemployment rate is steadily climbing, and Americans' retirement accounts are taking a beating on the flagging stock market. But the worsening economic crisis claimed another victim today, golfer Tiger Woods, the highest-paid athlete in the country.
The faltering General Motors, busy with its campaign to exact $25bn in low-cost loans from the federal government, has ended its endorsement deal with Woods, in a cost-cutting measure. From AP:
DETROIT (AP) _ General Motors Corp. says it will end its endorsement deal with Tiger Woods at the end of the year.
GM said in a statement Monday that it is looking to reduce costs, and that the star golfer also wants more personal time as he expects his second child.
Woods has endorsed GM products around the world and has been closely tied to its Buick brand in the U.S., Canada and China.
GM's vice president for North American sales, Mark LaNeve, says the separation is the result of discussions earlier in the year and is not related to the company's campaign for $25 billion in loans from the federal government.
We can be sure that Tiger's children won't be having tap water on their cornflakes and Tiger's wife Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren Woods, a former Swedish model, won't be patching up the kids' jeans to save money. Woods' 2007 earnings (for hitting a small ball around lawns): $111,941,827, according to Sports Illustrated.
