£10,000 A YEAR.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 196, 4 September 1937, Page 18

£10,000 A YEAR.

♦ V bill hlden's earn1ngs sources qf his income he is always "broke". Big Bill TMen has lost his throne as No. 1 professional attr-action, but he has had a great, innings. He is still earning £10,000 a year. Tilden has received £100,000 since he turned professional. Vincent Richards, in the peper Esquire, indicates some of the sources of Tilden's income. He receives £1000 a year for the use of ihis name on tennis iracquets, £200 for the use of, his name in connection with , a tennis string, £300 for sponsoring a tennis shoe, and pround £600*for yarious testimonials. Writing syndicated articles brings Tilden £1500 a year; his matches against Perry brougiht him around £1700; his European tour is expected, to net him about £2000, and he has a guarantee of £1500 from Japan for a .tour of that eountry late this year. Tilden has made £100,000 since turning professional in 1931. Oneflfth of that amount came to him 3n the first six months, while he was under contract to Jack Curley. While there was good money Tilden wanted to organise and- manage a troupe of his own, and so Tilden Tennis Tours, Incorporated, ;was formed. Like many great artists, Bill is a poor manafeer, and soon he was broke. When business was bad in this eountry he went to Europe, earned some money, paid off his debts and came back for another tour of this eountry. The advent of Perry crowded Tilden out of the front rank of attractions, and so he organisef a troupe with himself, Satoh, of Japan, and Vincent Richards as the stars. A fourth player was engaged at a salary of £40 a week, while Satoh and Richards took a percentage of the net. Tilden always travels in style, and earries a secretary, a ballboy and a driver for the truck in which the tennis court facilities are transported from city to city. The secretary received £30 a week, the ballboy £10, and the truck driver £7 a week and expenses. Other items brought the fixed expenses to about £110 a week. No matter how much money he makes Bill is always broke. Even when he is away from New York on a long tour he maintains an expensive suite at the Algonquin Hotel. In his absence it is occupied ' by his friends, who live at the expense of Tilden. ' He has never tasted' strong drink, and wears the same suit of clothes for a year. His cable and telephone calls are enormous. He loses large sums on bridge and is never quite out of debt. Whatever the future has in store for him, Bill' has well earned the title of ".The Astonishlng Mr. Tilden." .