David and Victoria have built a huge business empire from their fame.
advertisementthe Beckham’s new series on Netflix Draw attention back to For the English footballer who won the European Championship, David Beckham And to his wife, pop star A By Victoria Beckham, former member of the Spice Girlswho have built a huge business empire off their reputation over the years.
the In a four-part series Beckham – as well as his wife, friends, sporting partners and acquaintances – tells viewers the behind-the-scenes secrets of his football career. The former player, who played for Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Real Madrid, is still a global star a decade after his retirement – as is his former Posh Spice wife, Victoria.
The Beckham family – whose fortune according to the Sunday Times is approaching €500 million – are part of a select elite of celebrity couples such as Beyonce And Jay-Z, or Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (Brangelina). In addition to being celebrities in their own right, the members of these couples have collaborated and turned their relationship into a global brand.
How did you start?
Victoria Beckham, whose first name is Adams, was a member of the Spice Girls in the 1990s, and David Beckham was a rising star at the Manchester United soccer team at the time.
Nowadays, it is normal for football stars such as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to regularly appear in advertisements, but at that time this was not the case. People are now used to players promoting face creams, sneakers or mobile phone packaging, something David Beckham pioneered. Thus, his image was no longer associated only with Manchester United, as people saw him not only at matches and on football pitches, but also in magazines, on television and, soon after, on the Internet.
“The strategic and business tools he used to manage and develop his own brand were similar to those used by established companies,” says brand and business consultant Andrew Milligan of .Brand like BeckhamHe is the author of the book.
After the Spice Girls disbanded, Victoria remained in the spotlight as David Beckham’s wife, continuing to appear on magazine covers, and soon started her own modeling business.
Benefit from reputation
The couple’s wedding is a good example of how they can make money from almost anything because of the media attention they receive. At the time, the press heralded the wedding as the show event of the year. The bride and groom received £1 million from a British magazine (adjusting for inflation more than €2 million in today’s money) for the exclusive right to publish photos from the wedding.
In the Netflix profile, the couple says that although the constant media attention has been extremely stressful for their family, especially their children, it has also helped them build their brand and turn their name into a profitable business.
David invested the money he earned during his football career in various companies, and after sponsoring, for example, Pepsi, H&M and other brands, he decided to create his own project: perfumes or glasses are sold in his name, and he manages several investment companies. The American football team owns an unknown percentage of… Major League Soccer (MLS), which is co-owner of Inter Miami Football Club – which it also managed to lure Lionel Messi to – and has been Qatar’s traveling ambassador for a decade starting with last year’s World Cup.
Victoria followed a similar path. After modeling for brands such as Dolce & Gabbana and regularly appearing on the covers of fashion magazines, she launched her own fashion company, presenting her first denim collection in 2006 at the 2008 New York Fashion Week just two weeks after her debut.
At first, he was met with skepticism, as the fashion elite did not take the former pop star seriously, but he proved his worth with luxury brands and international fashion shows. Vogue once described him as one of modern fashion’s “most unexpectedly serious” participants.
Today, Victoria and her husband co-own companies such as Beckham Brand Holdings Limited, which covers David’s brands and Victoria’s fashion business.
According to Andrew Milligan, fashion and football are two industries that people consume 24/7, both online and offline, and this is something the Beckham family has been able to capitalize on. According to financial reports for 2021, for example, the couple made a profit of more than 22 million euros.
The family that became a brand
Victoria and David Beckham developed their business and family at a time when the Internet and social media were actively developing. Like one of the world’s most famous celebrity families, the Kardashian-Jenners, the Beckhams recognized the importance of social media in leveraging their family’s image and strengthening their brands.
In the late 1990s, David cultivated the image of a family man who did not hesitate to skip training at Manchester United to be with his sick son. In interviews over the years, both Beckhams enthusiastically shared details about their parenting style and family life, reaching an audience “outside their neighborhood.” The couple shares special photos on their Instagram pages, giving their tens of millions of followers the feeling that not only do they know the products Beckham sells, but they know themselves too.
Their four children, Brooklyn, Cruz, Romeo and Harper Beckham, who range in age from 12 to 24, are following in their parents’ footsteps. The eldest daughter, Brooklyn, married American actress Nicola Peltz last year. The wedding attracted media attention, just like the wedding of Victoria and David before. The media fought a serious battle for the right to publish the photos taken at the wedding – which, according to rumors, cost 3.5 million euros.
All signs point to Beckham’s business empire being profitable for a long time to come.
