What is David Beckham's net worth?

Although the former Manchester United legend doesn’t make it into our richest person in the world list, he is one of the highest-paid sports personalities, alongside fellow footballer Christiano Ronaldo and former basketball player Michael Jordan. With his wife – fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham – the Beckhams have a combined net worth of £455 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2024.

Even though Beckham has retired as a player, he could be in the spotlight again as England is searching for a new manager after Gareth Southgate’s departure. Is he in the running? 

We explore David Beckham’s net worth and how he continues to grow his wealth.

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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 a movie (2002’s Bend It Like Beckham). Over the next few years, Beckham 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 spent more than two decades at Manchester United, where 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, with endorsements from Jaguar to Haig Club whiskey, although 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. 

Beckham landed a brand deal with Adidas in 2003 worth $160.8 million – one of the biggest sports sponsorship deals at that time. Other big brand endorsements included Calvin Klein, PepsiCo, Armani and Samsung. 

The retired footballer

In 2013, Beckham hung up his boots after a 21-year career on the pitch. Within his first year of retiring, he reportedly made $75 million, more than he’d made during his entire footballing career.

Now the ex-footballer has multiple income streams, from his property investments in Miami, London and the Cotswolds, to his football investments – he purchased US football (soccer) team Inter Miami FC for $25 million in 2007. The team now includes renowned football players such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez.

He also owns a stake in Authentic Brands, the parent company of brands such as Reebok, Nautica, Juicy Couture, Ted Baker and Hunter and the magazine Sports Illustrated. Authentic Brands also owns the rights to the estates of celebrities such as Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali. In one of his biggest, but most controversial deals to date, David 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. 

Beckham is a founding member of Malaria No More UK. He also set up an appeal with Victoria to support Ukrainians through his 7 Fund. The footballer supports Help for Heroes too and has been appointed as a UNICEF Ambassador for his work on children's rights. 

Is Beckham in the running to be England’s next manager? 

Gareth Southgate resigned from his position as England’s manager on 16 July – a couple of days after England lost to Spain in the Euro 2024 final. It’s left the nation wondering, who will fill his shoes? 

While there are rumours flying about who could become the next England manager, Beckham could be in with a chance, if he wanted it. If we look at Southgate’s background, he played for his country between 1995 and 2004, and then became England’s manager in 2016. He had a successful run while managing England, taking the squad to two Euro finals, the quarter-finals at the 2022 World Cup and securing fourth place at the 2018 World Cup. 

Beckham has captained England and is one of our greatest footballers. And not to forget the experience he has gained at Inter Miami. While it’s all just rumours at this stage, Beckham has expressed in the past that he would consider managing England. In an interview with GQ in 2019, he said: “I mean of course I would think about it, because I’m a passionate Englishman and I’m passionate about our national side, but would I be any good at it? Who knows? It’s a dream job.”