How rich is David Beckham?

By SALLY HAMILTON
Updated: 05:14 EST, 5 May 2011

In the latest in our Celebrity Money series, examinng how the rich and famous made their millions, we profile global football icon David Beckham.

Rich list: Can you spend it like Beckham?

David Beckham turned age 36 this week and asked his fans to celebrate by buying footballs for needy children across the world in a campaign for charity UNICEF.

He might have also been secretly celebrating the fact that despite his advancing age (in footballer's terms at least) he is still the highest earning player in the world.

While many players start to see their earning potential dwindle from their mid 30s not so for business-minded Beckham.

Age is no barrier to his empire-building and in 2010 he topped up his coffers with an extra $40m of income in 2010 generated from his efforts both on an off the pitch.

The former Manchester United, Real Madrid and England team player minted so much cash last year that last month he was named by Forbes magazine as the highest paid footballer in the world for the third year running, ahead of Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo on $38m and Barcelona's Lionel Messi on $32m.

This cash tops up his banked earnings over the years estimated at £125m in the Sunday Times Sport Rich List 2010 and helped by a reputed £128m five-year salary and sponsorship deal with his current team Los Angeles Galaxy, which he joined as midfielder in 2007.

Beckham's financial fortunes are flourishing even if his football fitness appears to be on the wane. Dogged by injuries in the last four years (which has included two periods on loan to AC Milan) Becks still attracts high profile sponsorship and endorsement deals, including contracts signed last year with software games company Electronic Arts, Diet Pepsi and Yahoo.

Over the last decade the list of names he has endorsed reads like a telephone directory of top brands, including Castrol Oil, M&S, Motorola, Police Sunglasses and more.

These are in addition to a long-standing multi-million pound relationship with Adidas, which is said to be the biggest contract in football. Over the years he has also enjoyed bumper pay cheques from the likes of Armani where he recently ended a three-year contract worth £20m and he still promotes Coty who he signed with eight years ago in an initial £4m deal.

Posh life: How rich is Victoria Beckham?

The player's involvement in London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympics and the expectation of his conspicuous presence at the games in some capacity next summer is likely to secure him further deals in the coming months.

Beckham, who was the most searched for sports-related name in 2003 and 2004 is paid for certain endorsements through his London based company Footwork Productions, from which he received payments of over £9m in 2009 and nearly £10m in 2008.

Born on 2 May 1975, he has also raked in millions for his autobiographies David Beckham: My World in 2001 and David Beckham: My Side (dubbed Both Feet on the Ground in the US), published in 2003.

Beckham's marriage to the ambitious former Spice Girl Victoria also ensures the pair are constantly seen on the celebrity circuit and in the press, spreading the brand name even wider.

The couple were among the few celebrities to attend Prince William and Kate Middleton's nuptials in April mainly thanks to Becks's involvement alongside the prince in the (failed) London bid for the 2018 football world cup.

Goal: Beckham makes his money on and off the pitch

Victoria, currently expecting the couple's fourth child, contributes strongly to the family's bank balance, including through record sales (mainly the Spice Girls rather than her solo efforts), her own brand of Coty perfume and her dVb line of designer clothing. Posh made an estimated £10m when the five-piece band reformed for a one-off reunion tour in 2008. Her 2001 autobiography Learning to Fly became the third best-selling non-fiction title of 2001 and sold more than 500,000 copies, while she also had success with a beauty book.

Just having her hubby mention a consumer item in passing can send sales skyward as Lego discovered when the star told an interviewer last year that he had built a Lego Taj Mahal while relaxing in Italy. Sales shot up more than six-fold in one day.

The Beckhams are generous charitable donors; as well as Becks's UNICEF links, the couple has also set up their own children's charity - but they are not coy about spending cash on themselves. Their wedding in 1999 was a lavish affair - although the bills were more than covered by OK! Magazine, which bought exclusive rights for £1m, one of the largest sums offered for a celebrity wedding.

Becks is said to have owned around 40 cars over the years, including a Cadillac Escalade, Porsche 911 Cabriolet, Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupe, Range Rover Sport and a Jeep Wrangler.

The couple has also built up an extensive $44m art collection including works by Damien Hirst, Sam Taylor Wood and Tracy Emin with most pieces bought from London gallery White Cube.

The pair have plenty of space to display their collection, including on the walls and shelves of their luxury seven bedroom home in Beverly Hills, which they bought for $28m in 2007 following Beckham's signing to LA Galaxy. They also own a £2m house in Bargemon in the South of France, a £3m property in Madrid, an £8m Dubai villa and their UK family home 'Beckingham Palace' in Hertfordshire, which they bought for £2.5m in 1999 and is now thought to be worth £6.6m.