Mark McCormack

Mark Hume McCormack (November 6, 1930 – May 16, 2003)

Mark McCormack
was an American lawyer, sports agent and writer. He was the
founder and chairman of International Management Group, now Born Mark Hume
IMG, an international management organization serving sports McCormack
figures and celebrities. November 6, 1930
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died May 16, 2003
Contents (aged 72)
New York City, New
Early life, education
York, U.S.
Business career
Nationality American
Originates rankings for golf and tennis
Occupation Lawyer · sports agent
Death · writer ·
Honors businessman
Bibliography Known for Founder and
References president of IMG

External links

Early life, education

McCormack was the only son of Chicago publisher Ned McCormack. He graduated from the College of
William & Mary in 1951. He earned his law degree from Yale Law School, and served in the United States
Army. He played varsity golf at William & Mary, and qualified for the 1958 U.S. Open, but missed the cut.

Business career
After his Army discharge, McCormack worked as an attorney at the Cleveland law firm, Arter & Hadden.
In the 1950s he helped organize one-day golf exhibitions for professionals around the United States. In
1960, McCormack founded IMG and signed golfer Arnold Palmer as the company's first client and later
signed Formula 1 drivers Jackie Stewart, Peter Revson, and golfers Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.[1]
McCormack's clients eventually included Fran Tarkenton,[2] Björn Borg, Chris Evert, Pete Sampras,
Michael Schumacher, Derek Jeter, Charles Barkley and model Kate Moss. He also handled special projects
for Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II, and Tiger Woods.

McCormack wrote several books, including The Terrible Truth About Lawyers and What They Don't Teach
You at Harvard Business School, which spent 21 consecutive weeks at #1 on The New York Times Best
Seller list. His annual publication The World of Professional Golf, first published in 1967, included an
(unofficial) world ranking system. In his book What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School,
McCormack tells a fictionalized story of a Harvard study in which the three percent of graduates who had
clear, written goals earned ten times as much as the 97 percent who didn't have clear, written goals.
McCormack and numerous motivational speakers, including Tony Robbins and Brian Tracy, have used
various versions of this story in their presentations.[3]

Originates rankings for golf and tennis

The system used to calculate Mark McCormack's world golf rankings was adapted in 1986 to become the
Official World Golf Ranking system, with McCormack chairing the rankings committee made up of
representatives from all the major golf tours. McCormack pioneered a similar system for tennis rankings.
McCormack met his second wife Betsy Nagelsen-McCormack, a two-time Australian Open doubles
champion and a Wimbledon doubles finalist, while she was a business client. They married in 1986.[4] The
couple founded the McCormack–Nagelsen Tennis Center at the College of William & Mary, which houses
the ITA Women's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.

Death
McCormack died at a New York hospital on May 16, 2003, age 72, from complications after suffering a
cardiac event four months earlier that left him in a coma. His second wife, Betsy Nagelsen, their daughter,
Maggie, and children from his first marriage to Nancy Breckenridge McCormack, Todd and Leslie, later
shared $750 million, when the family's shares in IMG were sold.

Honors
In July 2006 McCormack was selected for induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in the lifetime
achievement category, and he was inducted in October 2006. On January 23, 2008, he was also inducted
into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.[5] He was featured as one of the Forbes 400 Richest Americans
in 1995, 1998, 2001.[6] In 1990, he was named the "Most Powerful Man in Sports" by Sporting News. The
University of Massachusetts at Amherst has also named their Sport Management department after
McCormack.[7]

The British film Wimbledon (2004) was dedicated to Mark McCormack by director Richard Loncraine.

The Mark H. McCormack Medal is awarded to the leading player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking
after the U.S. Amateur and the European Amateur.[8]

The Mark H. McCormack Award is awarded to the player who has spent the most weeks at first place in
the Official World Golf Ranking during a calendar year. The first 13 of these awards after its inception
went to Tiger Woods.

Bibliography
Arnie: The Evolution of a Legend, New York: Simon & Schuster (1967)
What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes From A Street-Smart
Executive, New York: Bantam (1984)
The Terrible Truth About Lawyers: How Lawyers Really Work and How to Deal With Them
Successfully, Harper Collins, 1987 (also published in another edition as What They Didn't
Teach Me at Yale Law School, Fontana Press 1988)
What They Still Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School, New York: Bantam Books,
1989 (also published in another edition as Success Secrets, HarperCollins, 1989)
 The 110% Solution, Villard Books, (1990)
Hit the Ground Running: Executive Guide to Insider's Travel, Orion, 1993 (published in soft-
cover edition as What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School About Executive
Travel: Hit the Ground Running, Dove Books, 1996)
McCormack on Negotiating, Random House (June 1995)
McCormack on Selling, Random House Business Books (June 15, 1995)
McCormack on Managing, Random House Business Books (October 1995)
McCormack on Communicating, Dove Entertainment (February 1996)
Getting Results for Dummies: Get Organized, Stay Focused, and Get Things Done!, IDG
Books, (1999)
Staying Street Smart in the Internet Age, Penguin Putnam, 2000 (also published in another
edition as What You'll Never Learn on the Internet, HarperCollins Business, 2001, as well as
Never Wrestle with a Pig and Ninety Other Ideas to Build Your Business and Career,
Penguin, 2002)
The World of Professional Golf (Published annually from 1967, it continues to be published
posthumously, the title page indicating that it was founded by Mark McCormack). The first of
the annuals was titled Golf '67.

References
1. Arnie and Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry, by Ian O'Connor, 2008
2. Axthelm, Pete (July 19, 1971). "The Third Annual Permanent Retirement of Joe Namath" (htt
ps://books.google.com/books?id=A-MCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA47). New York Magazine. p. 71.
Retrieved January 6, 2015.
3. "Writing Down Your Goals – The Harvard Written Goal Study. Fact or Fiction?" (http://sidsav
ara.com/personal-productivity/fact-or-fiction-the-truth-about-the-harvard-written-goal-study).
Sidsavara.com. November 13, 2007. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
4. "IMG founder McCormack dies at 72" (http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/2003-05-16-m
ccormack-obit_x.htm). USA Today. May 16, 2003. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
5. "International Tennis Hall of Fame" (https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/m
ark-mccormack). www.tennisfame.com. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
6. "Mark Hume McCormack" (http://www.namebase.org/xmca/Mark-Hume-McCormack.html).
NameBase. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
7. "Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management" (https://www.isenberg.umass.edu/p
rograms/depts/sport-mgmt). Retrieved August 19, 2015.
8. "R&A Introduces the Mark H. McCormack Medal" (http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/ramp
a_introduces_the_mark_h_mccormack_medal). Cybergolf. Retrieved August 19, 2015.

External links
Official website (http://MarkHMcCormack.com)
Memorial from College of William and Mary (https://web.archive.org/web/20050304063756/h
ttp://www.tribeathletics.com/story.php/1088/)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Obituary (http://www.post-gazette.com/obituaries/20030517mccorm
ack0517p4.asp)
International Tennis Hall of Fame (https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/mar
k-mccormack)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_McCormack&oldid=1072224185"

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