DISQUS

Consumerism Commentary: Foundations of the Rich and Athletic: What 10 Athletes Do With Their $30,000,000+ Annual Income

  • KC · 1 year ago
    I've often wondered what athletes do with these God-awful sums of money. Now don't get me wrong - I could spend 20 or 30 million easily improving my life, but once the house and lifestyle are built what do you do with the rest?

    I know some players put too much emphasis on the big contract. Look at Carlos Zambrano. He could have gotten so much more if he'd tested the free agent waters. But he liked Chicago and he settled for probably $40 million less over his lifetime by staying there. But don't cry for him - he still got something like $70 million. I can only imagine how much he can make in endorsements, especially around Chi-town. It's money he won't be able to spend in his lifetime if he has any sort or smarts and restraint.
  • Barb · 1 year ago
    Interesting roundup. It's amazing how much some of these guys do--and not just the big names. For example, Jamie Walker, a member of the Orioles bullpen, donates $200 to the U.S. Army Emergency Relief Fund for every appearance and every strikeout during this season (and guy pitches in a LOT of games); I believe he did the same thing last year.
  • Luke @ Money & Fitnes Blog · 1 year ago
    The whole mention of Kobe Bryant made me laugh. Not a good time for time in 200 apparently. This is definitely an interesting post for sure.
  • The Cynic in All of Us · 1 year ago
    As much as I would like to believe that all these foundations are true to their words, there is a part of me that wonders if some of these foundations are nothing more than tax shelters where the employees of the foundations are friends and relatives of the athletes.
    Again, I do believe that many of these foundations are well run where a major portion of the funds "donated" actually do make to the intended purpose(s) but there has to be more financial advantages to these organizations besides good will alone.
  • Ed Phillips · 2 months ago
    All private foundations are tax avoidance vehicles, pure and simple. The foundation head is able to shunt 30 percent of his gross income to his foundation and pay no taxes on that money. In return he only has to pay out 5 percent of that diverted money to his charity. In the case of Tiger Woods, he saved $11.52 million in taxes by diverting $38.4 million to his foundation. He still controls the rest of the foundation money and he can do pretty much what he wants to do with. The same procedures apply to every private foundation owner. Philanthropy? Forget about it.