There has never been an athlete who has made more money in endorsements than pro golfer Tiger Woods. Woods earns approximately $100M annually from companies who pay him handsomely to partner with their brand. Companies like Nike, Buick, Tag Hauer, EA Sports and now even Gatorade. And the person who puts all of these partnerships together for Tiger Woods will join us on this weekend's edition of Sports Business Radio. Mark Steinberg, who heads IMG's Global Golf Division, has been Tiger Woods' agent since 1998 and has done an amazing job growing Tiger's brand around the world. The day is soon coming when Tiger Woods will reach the $1B mark in career earnings.

Steinberg last joined me on Sports Business Radio in August of 2006, so it will be good to catch up with him.

Woods, who has won 13 majors, finds himself within 5 major championships of Jack Nicklaus' all-time record of 18 Grand Slam wins. Tiger has earned nearly $80M on the golf course since he turned pro in 1996 (more than any other golfer in the history of the PGA Tour) and he won the inaugural Fed-Ex Cup last year, which was accompanied by a $10M bonus. So Tiger made nearly $20M on the course last year and close to $100M off the course. Mr. Woods is a mega-corporation all by himself.

Steinberg has also helped Tiger Woods launch a golf course design company - Tiger Woods Design. Currently TWD has two projects underway - one in Dubai and one called The Cliffs at High Carolina.

Steinberg has also been an integral part of helping Tiger grow the Tiger Woods Foundation and the Tiger Woods Learning Center. Steinberg, who sits on the Board of Directors of Tiger's foundation, assists Woods in his role as host of three tournaments each year (AT&T National in Washington DC, Deutsche Bank in Boston and the Target World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, California ), where part of the proceeds go to the Tiger Woods Foundation. Woods donated his $1.3M winners check from the Target World Challenge last December to his foundation. As I mention frequently on our radio show, its very underreported how much Tiger Woods does for charity and in the community.

Mark Steinberg also works closely with female golfer Annika Sorenstam - the best female golfer of all time and the highest earning female golfer ever. From her Annika Academy to deals with companies like Callaway Golf, Rolex and Lexus, Steinberg has helped turn a shy young girl from Sweden, that he first started working with in 1993, in to a global golf icon. Sorenstam, like Woods, does wonderful things in the community via her ANNIKA foundation.

One question you can be sure I will ask Steinberg........was this Tiger Woods tackle in last year's Buick commercial scripted? I've been dying to find out. Tune in this weekend and we'll get the answer together.