- One-on-One With UFC's Dana White
- Will LeBron Dunk Tape Ever Be Released?
- What You'll See On My NASCAR Documentary Tonight
- Amazing Cycling in France For Make Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
- Gatorade Makes Limited Edition Jordan Bottles
- Staples To Cash In On Jackson's Funeral
- Lacoste Runs Full Page Ad With Roddick Loss
- Is Andy’s Mojo Back? We Asked Him
- Lance, Please Back Out Of Tour
- Singh Not Wearing Stanford At Tournament
RSS FEED
|
CNBC'S MOST SHARED
- Unemployed? Bored? Make Money Playing Beer Pong
- The Highest Grossing (Inflation Adjusted) Movies of All Time
- Social Networking's 'Naked' Truth
- Geek Squad V. Gizmodo
- Merrill's McCann Seen as UBS Wealth Frontrunner
- Warren Buffett's Top Three Investment Rules for the Average American
- Why You Should Watch Fund Flows
- WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell on the Ad Recession
- Four Things You Should Be Doing Now To Break Out
- Proprietary Trading May Cause October Crash: Investor
- Eric Schmidt on Government Scrutiny and Economic Recovery
- Market 360: The Week's Best & Worst
- Geek Squad V. Gizmodo
- Brandt: Google Chrome OS in the Post-PC Age
- Other People Are Weirder Than We Are
- Bank Failures: Is The Nightmare Over? (Video)
- California Here I Go? No.
- Roginsky: No More Mr. Nice Guy
- Commercial Conundrum
- Cheney Told CIA to Withhold Information: Report
- Why the Credit Pendulum Is Stuck at 'Stupid'
- Stimulus Will Kick in Later this Year: President Obama
- Lender CIT Group Hires Premier Bankruptcy Adviser
- Government Selling Bank Stakes for Too Cheap: Panel
- Buffett's Top 3 Investment Rules for Average Americans
- Market Insider: Earnings Loom in the Week Ahead
- Bulls Get Summertime Blues, But It's Hot Fun for Bears
- As Banks Fail, Strong Institutions Become More Visible

![]() |
After big-time exposure from an event like the U.S. Open, I normally give a sponsor update for the winner (yeah, I know Tiger was carrying a Gatorade to accept the trophy).
But even though Rocco Mediate lost out to Tiger Woods on the 91st-hole of an epic battle, the story behind one of his sponsors is among the most intriguing I've ever seen.
As I mentioned earlier today, Rocco Mediate's main sponsor Callaway Golf[ELY
Loading...
()
] which has been hovering around 52-week lows. But it can't get much more awkward than the company that sponsors Rocco's right chest--WCI [WCI
Loading...
()
].
WCI, the troubled homebuilder, sold the community where Mediate lives--Tuscany Reserve--to foreign investors for $65 million last month. The development is in Naples, Fla., among the hardest hit of all U.S. cities in terms of the mortgage fallout.
Tuscany Reserve was originally supposed to sell some homes for $2 million to $5 million, but homes can now be found for less than $1 million. One residence in the community--2,349 square feet--is listed on the company's Web site for $908,850. The Naples Daily News last said that WCI originally had permits for 530 homes, but only built 30. The golf course is co-designed by Greg Norman and Pete Dye.
Here's Rocco's wife Linda in a brochure for the community: "The Tuscany Reserve lifestyle is so perfect for the whole family that there seemed to be no adjustment period. Rocco is Italian, we live in a place that is reminiscent of the Italian countryside and our children are happy. We feel like we've always lived here."
So despite all the exposure, Mediate's advertisement for WCI is kind of useless. What's he going to say? WCI lost $85.1 million in the first quarter of 2008 and more than $500 million for all of 2007.
This past Friday, WCI--whose largest shareholder is Carl Icahn--formed a board to evaluate restructuring proposals. Shares of the homebuilder were at nearly $24 a share in Feb. 2007. It has been trading at less than $2 a share for more than a month.
Questions? Comments?











