David and Victoria split up (but it’s only over business)
DAVID and Victoria Beckham’s world-famous ‘Brand Beckham’ business is to split in two.
David is seeking to cut business ties with former pop svengali Simon Fuller, but Victoria will continue to work with the former Spice Girls manager.
Fuller’s firm, XIX Management, owns a stake in Beckham’s firm, DB Ventures, and Beckham wants to buy this stake back.
It is understood that it could cost Beckham, 43, somewhere in the region of £65m to break free – and fold the couple’s umbrella company, Brand Beckham Holdings.
Last November, it was revealed that Beckham and his long-term business partner and manager Fuller were to separate, with the former footballer wanting to run his company himself.
Since then, he and the Pop Idol creator have been in discussions over how much Beckham will have to pay for the stake Fuller’s XIX holds in DB Ventures, which in 2017 made a profit of £23.2m.
Sources close to Victoria, who turned 45 last week, say she and Fuller have no plans to end more than 23 years of working together after he was brought in to manage the Spice Girls in the mid-1990s. The pair hope to turn around the fortunes of her fashion range after massive losses in recent years. They are hoping a recent £30m investment from City firm Neo Investment Partners will do the trick. A source revealed: ‘Victoria is staying with Simon. They are very close and Fuller has a 30% stake in her business – and will continue to do so. In fact, it was him who got the cash injection last year, so that relationship is very much firm.’
‘Victoria is staying with Simon’