BEIJING, China --

Michael Phelps has been pure gold — in more ways than one.

One — he’s literally golden with (so far) six Olympic gold medals swinging around his chest. And he’s likely to add two more gold medals to his collection, pushing him past Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in a single Olympic games.

To date, Phelps, who has broken time records with every race, already has more gold medals than any other athlete in the history of the Olympic games.

Because of his superstar status, Phelps is also ratings gold for NBC. When he competed for his fourth gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly, shortly after 10 PM EDT on Tuesday, NBC’s ratings soared 23% to a total of 39.1 million viewers, up 8 million people from not long before his race, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Not only is Phelps literal as well as ratings gold, but he’s also lining his pockets with the shiny stuff.

To date, he has endorsement deals with, among others, PowerBar, Omega, AT&T Wireless, Kellogg’s, Speedo and Visa, which just seconds after becoming the winningest Olympian ever with 10 gold medals, aired a special edition commercial marking the milestone. And, should Phelps tie Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in a single Olympiad, Speedo, prominently featured on his bathing suit, cap and goggles, will thank him with a $1 million bonus.

So, will Phelps be swimming in cash after the Olympics? In an interview with Reuters a couple of days ago, Max Markson, an Australian-based celebrity agent remarked that Phelps is “the greatest Olympian in the world and he’ll be able to earn money everywhere as he’s an international brand. He’s a billion dollar man. He won’t have to get a job ever. He can live off this for 50 years.”

According to reports, Phelps earns approximately $5 million a year from his endorsements, but could earn as much as $30 million in the short term, says Eli Portnoy, whose marketing consultancy firm, Portnoy Group, specializes in branding. Portnoy noted in an interview with Reuters that among the limitations on Phelps’ earning power is that “The Olympics [are] only held once every four years… Americans forget about the Olympics and move to stars they see more.”

Nevertheless, for the time being, Phelps’ golden touch will be felt both in and out of the pool.

Copyright 2009 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
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