Shaun White, businessman
Shaun White is no longer “the Flying Tomato.”
Shaun White is no longer “the Flying Tomato,” said Elizabeth Weil in The New York Times. Though the snowboarding prodigy has made a fortune out of his persona as the cocky, redheaded dude who won Olympic gold, he has a new image for this year’s Sochi Olympics: that of the mature, polite, hardworking businessman. Now 27, he has cut his famous locks and ditched the skateboarding clothes for sharp suits, and wants everyone to forget about the 20-something brat who frittered away his money, crashed his Lamborghini, and got arrested for drunkenly trashing a hotel room. “You know those social skills you build over time? I didn’t really have those,” he says. “I was in my 20s, so I was like, I don’t want to do this—I want to have fun. I want to buy a sports car and drive.” But then he decided to clean up his life, and is now the chief of Shaun White Enterprises, the company that oversees his clothing line, sponsorships, and business partnerships. Nowadays, he spends his time training for Sochi, working on new business deals, and even collecting art. “Maybe things aren’t perfect,” says White. “But they’re a lot better than they were before.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
How to make the most of your leftover pumpkins
The Week Recommends As the Halloween fun wraps up, snap up pumpkins still on sale and don't leave your jack-o-lanterns to rot
By Tess Foley-Cox Published
-
How Harris and Trump differ on education
The Explainer Trump wants to disband the Department of Education. Harris wants to boost teacher pay.
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
How to minimize capital gains tax on investments
The Explainer It can take a chunk out of your profits
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published