(Express) - PGA Tour golf stars earn serious amounts of money, with the top players accumulating vast fortunes over their careers. But Maverick McNealy may just be the wealthiest golfer you might not have heard of.
The 29-year-old American clinched his first victory on the PGA Tour in November by birdying the final hole at The RSM Classic. Last week, the California-born talent, who qualified for the 2014 US Open aged 18, narrowly missed out on winning the Genesis Invitational.
McNealy fell to Ludvig Aberg despite playing a brilliant final round, where he shot a superb 64 to finish 11-under par. That meant missing out on the £3.2million ($4m) purse that comes with becoming the champion. Yet he can at least take solace knowing that he doesn’t exactly need that sum of money.
In fact, McNealy - who arrived at the golf course in his own private jet - is already richer than any golfer in the world not named Tiger Woods, including the likes of Rory McIlroy. That’s because he is the heir to a £800million ($1bn) empire.
McNealy’s father, Scott, co-founded technology giant Sun Microsystems back in 1982. It was later acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2010 for an eye-watering £5.9billion ($7.4bn), securing generational wealth for the McNealy family.
Maverick is the heir to McNealy senior’s astonishing fortune, having grown up in a 28,000 square-foot mansion worth £68m in Palo Alto, California. To put his wealth into perspective, McNealy stands to inherit six-times the net worth of four-time major winner McIlroy.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the Northern Irishman has accumulated £134.4m ($170m) since his legendary professional career began in 2007. McIlroy has made plenty of money thanks to his career, endorsements, and investments, though his wealth could have been boosted further if he had chosen to join the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf circuit.
The wealthiest golfer in the world is still McNealy’s compatriot Woods, aged 49. Woods is believed to be worth around £870m, making him the first golfer to earn over a billion dollars as a direct result of the sport.
Woods reached that position despite also turning down a “mind-blowingly enormous” offer from LIV Golf, according to reports. Meanwhile, despite his luxurious upbringing, McNealy insists that things were not handed to him on a plate either.
By Kasra Moradi
