David Beckham becomes Britain’s first billionaire sportsman
David Beckham has become Britain’s first billionaire sportsman after his wealth doubled in the last year, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
The former captain of the England football team and his wife, Victoria Beckham, are now estimated to be worth almost £1.2bn.
Beckham has benefited from the surging valuation of Inter Miami, the US football team he co-owns, who won the Major League Soccer title in 2025.
He also owns supplements brand IM8, production company Studio 99 and has lucrative endorsement deals in sportswear, fashion and fragrances.
Victoria Beckham’s fashion and beauty business is also booming. His holding company, DRJB Holdings, paid out more than $50m in dividends in its most recently published accounts.
Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is the richest Briton with an involvement in sport, according to the Sunday Times. Ecclestone’s family fortune is estimated at £2bn.
Barry and Eddie Hearn are third on the sport rich list, with estimated wealth of just over £1bn, thanks to the success of their promotion company Matchroom.
Barry Hearn founded Matchroom in the 1980s and he and son Eddie have turned it into one of the biggest players in boxing as well as the driving force behind darts and snooker.
Harry Kane enters UK sport rich list top 10
Sportswear entrepreneurs Ben Francis, founder of Gymshark, and Tom and Phil Beahon, who launched Castore, are fourth and sixth among those involved in sport.
F1 driver Lewis Hamilton is fifth on a fortune of £435m following his big-money move to Ferrari, with golfer Rory McIlroy seventh on £325m after he completed the career grand slam.
Boxers Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are eighth and ninth, with estimated wealth of £240m and £162m, ahead of their long-awaited heavyweight clash later this year.
Current England football captain Harry Kane and tennis player-turned-investor Andy Murray are joint 10th on the sport list with £110m.
Investors Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja lead the overall rich list with £38bn, ahead of property tycoons David and Simon Reuben, who own a minority stake in Newcastle United, on £28bn.
Leonard Blavatnik, who controls sports streamer Dazn and Warner Music through Access Industries, is third on £27bn.