In 1960, a young lawyer named Mark McCormack made a handshake agreement with Arnold Palmer to represent him commercially. This agreement — and the company it spawned, International Management Group (IMG) — transformed the business of professional sport permanently.

Before IMG, professional athletes earned money from prize purses and, occasionally, modest equipment deals. McCormack saw something different: that Palmer’s personality and image had commercial value that extended far beyond golf. He negotiated endorsement deals with car companies, clothing manufacturers, insurance companies — using Palmer’s face and name to sell products that had nothing to do with golf.

IMG grew to represent hundreds of athletes across dozens of sports, and its model — athlete as brand, carefully managed and commercially exploited — became universal. Today, every athlete with a sponsorship deal, every product line bearing an athlete’s name, every celebrity collaboration in sports traces its commercial DNA back to what McCormack built for Palmer.

IMG also moved into event management, television production, and talent representation for actors and models — growing from a golf management company into one of the most powerful organizations in global entertainment. It was sold for $2.4 billion in 2013.