David Beckham is considered one of the world’s most renowned footballers of all time and following the recent Netflix documentary BECKHAM, people have started asking what is David Beckham’s net worth.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2023, Beckham’s combined wealth with his wife and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, is around £425 million - with some outlets suggesting around £370 million of this is David Beckham's personal net worth.
We look at how Beckham made his millions on and off the pitch, and how he continues to grow his wealth as a retired footballer.
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David Beckham’s football career
David Beckham first shot to fame in 1996, when the Manchester United midfielder in the number 10 shirt scored a goal from the halfway line.
Over the next few years, Beckham became highly sought-after and in 1999, the Guardian reported Beckham was the second highest-paid footballer in the world. Reports state he was paid around £1.5million at Manchester United (excluding bonuses). The salary was six times the average for a Premiership player compared to the previous season.
The footballer spent more than two decades at Manchester United, where he lifted six premier league titles and two FA Cups. In 2000, Beckham took over as the captain of the England national team, a position he held for six years.
In 2003, Manchester United accepted a £25 million bid for Beckham from Real Madrid, where he played for four years alongside other renowned footballers, including Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and Luís Figo.
A few figures are flying around about how much Beckham’s contract was worth at Real Madrid, with some outlets stating up to a record-breaking $250 million. Of the $250 million, Forbes reports Beckham’s base salary was $6.5 million a year.
However, the multi-million-pound footballer didn’t just make money on the pitch- he had many business dealings off the pitch too.
David Beckham’s brand deals
Beckham leveraged his fame and popularity to explore other money-making avenues, especially after becoming England’s captain. Everyone wanted Beckham's new haircut and the outfit he wore as he walked from his front door to his car- he was possibly one of the first big male influencers out there.
In the Netflix Documentary BECKHAM, he explains how he was one of the first footballers to explore brand deals and make money outside of football, although the Manchester United manager at the time, Sir Alex Ferguson, didn't agree with this approach.
Beckham landed a brand deal with Adidas in 2003 worth $160.8 million- reportedly one of the biggest sports sponsorship deals to date. Other big brand deals include names in fashion and fragrance, such as Calvin Klein, PepsiCo, Giorgio Armani, and Samsung.
The retired footballer
In 2013, Beckham hung up his boots after a 21-year career on the pitch. Several reports state that at the time of his retirement, Beckham was the seventh highest-paid athlete in the world.
He played his final match in the Paris Saint-Germain team. But Beckham didn’t put his popularity to bed- he continued to leverage his fame.
Now, the ex-footballer has multiple streams of income including his property portfolio, business ventures and an off-the-pitch career in football.
These include the U.S. football team Inter Miami, which he purchased back in 2007 for $25 million.
In one of his biggest deals to date, he signed a sponsorship deal with Qatar to be the face of the 2022 World Cup. Although he received a lot of stick for this, according to Fortune, even before signing any papers, Beckham’s revenue from his investments and brand tripled to £34 million thanks to the popularity boost.
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