Dosh and Becks
Beckhams give themselves a hefty pay rise...to £14.5m
DAVID and Victoria Beckham paid themselves £14.5million last year – despite Posh’s fashion business posting losses totalling £4.5million.
But this was a vast improvement on the £10.5million deficit suffered by her brand the previous year. Directors now aim to break even.
The Beckhams’ payday for 2019/20, which is from his dividends, was £3.4million more than in 2018/19. Just a few months ago Victoria’s fashion company was forced to make an embarrassing U-turn when she furloughed staff at the start of the pandemic despite her net worth being estimated at £335million.
Significant
In filings due to be published in Companies House, the couple’s businesses – Victoria Beckham Holdings Ltd (VBHL) and David Beckham Ventures Ltd (DBVL) – saw revenue grow last year.
DBVL, which is David’s global brand management company, is now fully independent following the buyout of
XIX Entertainment’s
33 per cent stake in 2019.
It enjoyed a revenue increase of £600,000 to £16.2million for the year, thanks to licensing and brand partnerships.
Victoria is a shareholder, as is her husband, with whom she has four children.
His long-term partnerships with brands include ones with adidas, Haig Club (Diageo), Tudor, Coty, insurance company AIA and hotel group Sands. The company went on to create DB Eyewear in 2019 and launched a production
Support..., Anna, David and three of his kids at one of Victoria’s shows
company and creative agency called Studio 99, which has a range of projects in development.
Also in 2019, the launch was announced of Inter Miami CF, a Major League Soccer team in the US co-founded by David, 45, which played its first game in March last year. Meanwhile Victoria’s luxury fashion label, which was launched in 2008, is owned by VBHL, XIX Entertainment, and NEO investment Partners, a private equity firm that invested £30million in 2017. Her company’s revenue rise was £2.5million – seven per cent – to £38.3million. But the more than halving of its losses is seen as a significant step by the business. Last April Victoria, 46, who is close to Vogue chief Anna Wintour, furloughed 30 of her 120 staff, meaning they would be paid 80 per cent of their wages by the Government – costing taxpayers around £150,000. At the time she was sharing photos on social media of her family’s luxury lockdown at their Oxfordshire home.
After coming in for much criticism, she reversed her decision and restored all employees to their roles.