Tiger Woods Preps Massive Business Venture as Accident Recovery Continues
Tiger Woods is entering a new business venture as he continues to recover from the car accident he was in last year. According to Sportico, the golf superstar is getting into the sports technology business, filing to raise $150 million through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Joining Woods will be tennis star Carolina Wozniacki, former NBA player David Lee and the executives of sports technology investment fund Lead.
Woods is the lead investor in the business and it's also his first SPAC endeavor. The SPAC, Sports & Health Acquisition, will seek to merge with a company in fan engagement, consumer-facing health and fitness technologies, and health and well-being according to the prospectus. The blank check company is targeting a sports technology firm valued between $600 million and $1 billion, according to SportsProMedia.com.
"Our efforts are to identify a prospective target business in the sports and health technology sectors," the filing states. 'We intend to focus on three verticals where our founders and management team have deep expertise, allowing them to add significant value: fan engagement, consumer-facing health and fitness technologies, and health and wellbeing. "Our management team's track record of success, deep domain expertise and a unique lens, place us in a competitive position to capture growth across the sports and health technology landscape."
According to Investopedia, a SPAC is a "company that has no commercial operations and is formed strictly to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) for the purpose of acquiring or merging with an existing company. It also says that SPACs "have been around for decades, but their popularity has soared in recent years. In 2020, 247 SPACs were created with $80 billion invested, and in just the first quarter of 2021, a record $96 billion was raised from 295 newly formed SPACs."
Woods was involved in a single-car accident outside of Los Angeles in February 2021. He suffered severe injuries to his legs but was able to compete in a golf tournament with his son Charlie last month. It's not clear when Woods will compete in another tournament, but he has nothing to prove as he has won 82 PGA Tour events, which is tied for the most all time. Woods has also won 15 major championships, which is second all time behind Jack Nicklaus.