Off The Record

David Beckham Sues Mark Wahlberg After Claiming He Lost Millions

Published on April 23, 2024

Actor Mark Wahlberg is being sued by former football player David Beckham for allegedly losing out on millions of dollars in profit from a fitness pact.

According to Beckham’s company, DB Ventures Ltd., the fitness brand F45 tricked them into partnering with him when he was appointed as their global ambassador.

The Sun claims that because Wahlberg and Beckham lived in the same neighborhood in Los Angeles when the former football player moved from Real Madrid to LA Galaxy in 2007, they became pals.

In 2019, Wahlberg acquired a minority stake in F45, and the following year, Beckham committed to collaborating with the business.

As an ambassador for F45, he appeared in several since-deleted social media posts promoting the company.

But according to Beckham’s company, he was given company shares, which were supposed to be delivered in early 2022. But, there was a delay of several months, during which the value of the shares fell dramatically.

An F45 share was worth about $11 (£8.89) at the start of 2022, but it quickly increased to over $15 (£12.13) in February before falling precipitously to less than $4 (£3.23) by the middle of the year.

Beckham’s attorneys have stated that he lost out on around £8.5 million in potential profits due to the delay in issuing him shares.

Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deutsch, the creators of F45, are also being sued, along with Wahlberg’s company, the Mark Wahlberg Investment Group.

The defendants have requested that the lawsuit against them be dismissed, claiming that the accusations of “fraudulent conduct” are unfounded.

The move to dismiss asserts that the case filed by Beckham ‘tries to make up with length what it lacks in merit’.

In 2022, Beckham and golfer Greg Norman filed a lawsuit against F45, claiming they were due cash and stock payments for their sponsorship.

According to Metro, the players asserted that the company’s ability to go public at a far higher valuation than it had two years prior was made possible by their affiliation with F45.

Beckham and Norman claimed they had not received “substantial cash and equity compensation,” but a judge later informed them they would need to file separate lawsuits.

Following that sharp decline in early 2022, the F45 stock did not rebound, and as of right now, each share is only worth 15c (12p).