Michael Phelps at a news conference in Beijing on Monday

Beijing: Phelps Inc. has gone global. A huge marketing machine behind Michael Phelps hit town on Monday, strategy in place to make him a global brand A and even richer.

A day after Phelps won his eighth gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, the corporate executives emerged from the poolside well prepared to capitalise on his new-found fame.

But Phelps, 23, who was looking forward to going home to Baltimore to see his dog and hang out with his friends and family, was unfazed at being dubbed the hottest marketing tool to ever emerge from the Olympics and at his new celebrity status.

“It’s not about the money. I do what I do because I love it and that’s why I’m here,” Phelps said.

“I see myself as a normal person and the same kid I was four years ago so I’m just living a dream right now.”

Phelps has had a financial adviser for the past five years to help him manage his income and recently bought a house in Baltimore that he will move into after Beijing.

But his success at the 2008 Games has put him in a different league and is set to make him the richest swimmer ever.

“This absolutely changes the game. The values will change, the depth of the programmes he is involved with will change, the breadth of these programmes will change,” Phelps’s agent, Peter Carlisle said.

Before Beijing, it was estimated that Phelps’s sponsorship deals earned him about $5million a year.

But could Carlisle put a value on Phelps with some marketing experts estimating he could be worth up to $30million a year? He said it was impossible.