David Beckham is now officially worth over a billion pounds. The 2026 Sunday Times Rich List has confirmed what his accountants already knew — Britain has its first billionaire sports icon, with Beckham and wife Victoria holding a combined fortune of £1.185 billion.
The route there wasn't just shirt sales and cologne deals. Inter Miami is now valued at approximately $1.45 billion, making it the most valuable club in MLS history. Beckham owns a significant stake. That club, which he helped found and fought to build through years of league bureaucracy and financial risk, has become the centrepiece of his wealth — not just his image.
More than a brand
It's easy to reduce Beckham to a logo. The hair. The tattoos. The Pepsi ads. But the financial architecture here is more serious than that. Endorsements, fashion, media — Victoria's brand included — all feed into the total. She's not a footnote; she runs a fashion and beauty operation that holds its own weight in this equation.
Still, the Inter Miami story is the one that tips the scales. When Lionel Messi arrived in Miami, the club's valuation didn't just climb — it repositioned American soccer commercially in a way that benefited every stakeholder, Beckham chief among them. Backing that project at the founding stage now looks like one of the sharper calls any British sports figure has made in the last decade.
For context on where Beckham sits in Britain's sporting wealth table: Bernie Ecclestone and family lead with £2 billion, built on turning Formula One into a global TV product. Lewis Hamilton has reached £435 million. Rory McIlroy is at £325 million. Anthony Joshua at £240 million. Beckham, at £1.185 billion combined, is operating in a different bracket entirely.
The rest of the list
Not everyone in the Rich List moved upward. Sir Jim Ratcliffe — Manchester United co-owner and someone who made very public promises about transforming the club — saw his personal fortune fall sharply. His total wealth dropped to £15.194 billion after Ineos, his chemicals company, ran into falling revenues, rising debt, and significant losses. That financial pressure at the parent company level doesn't make United's rebuild any simpler to fund.
Beckham played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, AC Milan, and PSG. He retired over a decade ago. The fact that he's just hit a billion pounds in 2026 says something about what post-career business looks like when the global profile is there from day one — and when you're willing to bet on yourself with an MLS franchise nobody was sure would work.
It worked. Emphatically.
