£40,000 a DAY... earn it like Beckhams
HER fashion brand continues to rack up huge losses, but Victoria Beckham and her husband David have still been paying themselves £40,000 a day.
That is thanks to the profit made by his company, DB Ventures.
The Beckhams, whose net worth is estimated to be more than £300million, paid themselves a £14.5million dividend in 2019 – £39,726 a day – and £7.1million last year, according to accounts released yesterday.
In total they have taken £99million out of DB Ventures since 2014, comfortably covering the £35million losses resulting from the former Spice Girl’s foray into high fashion.
Mrs Beckham’s company lost £16.5million in 2019 – the fifth consecutive year it has failed to make a profit.
The couple’s massive paydays came as the 46-year-old was forced into an embarrassing U-turn last year after she tried to furlough 30 of her 120 staff. She backed down after receiving heavy criticism for the move, which would have cost the taxpayer about £150,000.
Despite their generous dividends, the Beckhams’ business empire has failed to make a profit overall for two years.
The power of 45-year-old David’s image has waned, with profits falling from £44.3million in 2015 to £14.7million in 2018 and £11.3million in 2019. The former England captain, pictured, has launched football team Inter Miami and has tieups with the likes of L’Oreal, Adidas, Haig Club whisky and the Fifa computer game. The brand also made a £1million donation to Unicef.
Mrs Beckham has struggled to make her ‘lifestyle business’ profitable despite getting her high-end clothes into hundreds of stores across the world and receiving enormous exposure at fashion shows and other events. High costs and struggling sales have meant losses have grown in each of the past five years. Experts have described her cavernous flagship store in Mayfair as a white elephant. The pandemic has forced stores worldwide to close, hitting sales and forcing the Beckhams and other shareholders to stump up in excess of £20million in loans to keep the company afloat. In the accounts, auditors say there is ‘material uncertainty’ over its future and it will require ‘continued shareholder support’ to survive. Sales fell from £47.6million in 2017 to £38.3million in 2019. The company said investment in a new venture, Victoria Beckham Beauty, was partly to blame for the losses.