Although David Beckham’s net worth doesn’t make him the richest person in the world, he’s still one of the highest-paid sports personalities, alongside fellow footballer Christiano Ronaldo and former basketball player Michael Jordan.
The former Manchester United legend and his wife – fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham – have a combined net worth of £455 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2024.
Beckham’s 20-year football career came to an end in 2013, but that doesn’t mean his time on the pitch has truly ended. He’s now the co-owner and president of American soccer club Inter Miami CF, which boasts eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi as its captain.
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On top of that, he’s successfully made money from brand deals, be it through his endorsements with Adidas and Maserati, or being crowned “Underwear Model of the Century” by Tommy Hilfiger.
We explore David Beckham’s net worth, how he makes his millions and whether he’s in the running to receive a knighthood from King Charles this year.
David Beckham’s net worth as a footballer
David Beckham shot to fame in 1996 when the Manchester United midfielder scored a goal against Wimbledon from the halfway line. His skills made headlines and inspired the 2002 movie Bend It Like Beckham.
Over the next few years, he became highly sought-after on and off the pitch, with sponsorships and endorsements bringing in as much as his footballing salary. It is widely claimed that during his time at Manchester United, he was paid around £1.5million (excluding bonuses) per season – six times what the average Premier League player earned.
By 1999, he was the second-highest-paid footballer in the world, according to The Guardian. The footballer’s career at Manchester United spanned more than two decades, starting when he joined the club as a youth trainee alongside Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes – popularly known as the Class of '92. He won six Premier League titles and lifted two FA Cups. In 2000, Beckham took over as the captain of the England team, a position he held for six years.
In 2003, Manchester United accepted a £25 million bid for Beckham from Real Madrid, where he went on to play for four years alongside other renowned footballers, including Zidane, Ronaldo and Figo, in a squad that became known as the “Galácticos”.
David Beckham becomes a brand
Beckham leveraged his fame and popularity to explore money-making avenues that extended far beyond the sporting arena.
In the 2023 Netflix documentary Beckham (produced by his creative agency Studio 99), he explains how he was one of the first footballers to make global brand and image-rights deals. However, his Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, was famously unhappy with this approach. As “Brand Beckham”, his relationship with Victoria was parlayed into an especially lucrative commercial partnership.
Being an Adidas loyalist from the start of his career, it’s no wonder that Beckham landed a lifetime brand deal with the brand in 2003 worth $160.8 million – one of the biggest sports sponsorship deals at that time.
His other big brand endorsements included Calvin Klein, PepsiCo, Armani, Maserati and Samsung. In 2006, his legs were insured by Lloyd’s of London for a whopping £100 million.
Beckham also had a crucial role to play in the UK’s bid to host the 2012 London Olympics, although he wasn’t picked to play in that year’s football squad. The footballer carried the Olympic flame along the River Thames via speedboat to the opening ceremony.
The retired footballer
In 2013, Beckham hung up his boots. Within his first year of retiring, he reportedly made $75 million, his highest-ever annual earnings (his previous high was $51 million in 2012).
He now has multiple income streams, including property investments in Miami, London and the Cotswolds, and football club investments. Beckham purchased Inter Miami CF for $25 million in 2007.
He also owns a stake in Authentic Brands, the parent company of brands such as Reebok, Nautica, Juicy Couture, Nine West and Hunter, as well as the magazine Sports Illustrated. Authentic Brands owns the rights to the estates of celebrities such as Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali.
In 2021, Beckham signed a £150 million 10-year deal with Qatar to be the country’s ambassador, as well as the face of the 2022 World Cup. It’s one of his biggest but most controversial deals to date, mainly due to the country’s human rights record.
Beckham is a founding member of Malaria No More UK. He also set up an appeal with his wife Victoria to support Ukrainians through his 7 Fund. The footballer supports Help for Heroes and is a UNICEF Ambassador for his work on children's rights.
More recently, the Daily Mail claimed that Beckham would not receive a knighthood from King Charles this year. A source told the publication that former England manager Gareth Southgate will instead receive that accolade.
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