From football to business: stars who hung up their boots and became billionaires

**From football to business: Stars who hung up their boots and became billionaires**

It's not easy for professional footballers to end their careers. Especially for those who hang up their boots between the ages of 30 and 40, life after football presents new challenges. While some choose coaching or television careers, others go into business, launching large companies and projects. Goal has taken a look at five former footballers who have achieved great success in business after football. Among them are Manchester United legends, a World Cup winner and a four-time UEFA Champions League winner.

**David Beckham**

David Beckham became one of the most famous footballers in the world during his playing career, playing for England, Manchester United and Real Madrid. However, he did not stay away from sports after his career. Beckham is the president of the US club Inter Miami. He also owns a stake in the English Premier League club Salford City. He has long-standing partnerships with international brands such as Adidas, Hugo Boss, Tudor and Safilo.

In 2014, David, along with his wife Victoria and manager Simon Fuller, founded Beckham Brand Holdings, a company that manages all of their brands, contracts and sporting investments. In 2019, David and Victoria bought out Fuller's entire stake in the company, becoming its sole owners. In 2022, Beckham re-merged his businesses under the name DJRB Holdings. In the same year, he sold a 55% stake in his company DB Ventures to the US company Authentic Brands for £200 million. However, Beckham retains full control of the company, while owning the remaining 45%. His business empire generates tens of millions of pounds in net profit every year. The family-owned Studio 99 also produced a special documentary about David and Victoria for Netflix. In 2025, he launched a health supplement brand called IM8 in partnership with biotechnology company Prenetics.

**Lukas Podolski**

Lukas Podolski, who won the 2014 World Cup with the German national team, is also a successful businessman. In 2017, he launched the ice cream brand Ice Cream United in Cologne. A year later, he opened a chain of kebab restaurants Mangal Döner.

While still playing football, Podolski continued to expand his business, founding one of the largest music festivals in Germany, the Glücksgefühle Festival. He also founded the Baller League, an indoor soccer tournament for six-a-side teams, with former teammates Mats Hummels and Felix Stark. The league later expanded to the United States and the United Kingdom. Today, the Mangal Doner chain has about 30 branches in Germany. Podolski is estimated to be worth £180 million when he retires from football in May 2026. He also became a major shareholder in his childhood club, Gornik Zabrzej.

**Michael Owen**

Michael Owen, who played for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle and Manchester United, also tried his hand at business after his playing career. Owen, who won the Ballon d'Or in 2001, scored 45 goals in 89 appearances for England. One of his main interests outside of football was horse racing. At the age of 22, he bought the Manor House Stables in Cheshire. He later transformed the humble dairy farm into a modern horse training centre.

The complex has special horse tracks, a swimming pool and heated training equipment, and more than 140 thoroughbred horses are cared for here. The horses at Manor House Stables bring in an annual profit of 1-2.4 million pounds. In addition, he has collaborated with brands such as Umbro, Tissot and Jaguar, invested in real estate and worked as a football pundit on television. Owen's personal fortune is estimated at more than 54 million pounds.

**Gerard Pique**

Gerard Pique, who won the English championship and the Champions League with Manchester United, has won many more trophies with Barcelona. He has also won the World and European Championships with the Spanish national team. In 2017, Pique founded Kosmos Global Holding, a company that invests in sports, media and entertainment projects, with the support of Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikita. Cosmos later signed a 25-year, £3bn deal with the International Tennis Federation to develop the Davis Cup.

The company also bought Spanish club Andorra, and under Pique, the club rose from the fifth division to the second division in Spain. One of Pique’s most famous projects was the Kings League. This indoor tournament, played by seven-a-side teams, features social media stars and uses rules different from traditional football. In the 2024/2025 season, the Unwanted Boys, led by Islam Abdujabbarov, competed as the Uzbekistan national team and reached the quarter-finals. The Kings League has attracted over £160m in investment and has partnerships with major companies such as Adidas and Netflix. The league has since expanded to include the Queens League, Kings League Americas and Kings League World Cup. Pique also founded the 426 Miles drinks brand with Carles Puyol and launched the eFootball.Pro project in collaboration with Konami. His fortune is estimated at around £80 million.

**Gary Neville**

Manchester United legend Gary Neville became famous for his business and television work after his playing career. He owns Salford City with David Beckham. Neville is a director or principal in more than 50 companies in the UK, covering real estate, hospitality, media, education and sports. He is one of the co-founders of GG Hospitality, which manages hotels such as the Stock Exchange Hotel and Hotel Football.

He also has a production company, Buzz16, which produces the project The Overlap. In addition, Neville, together with business partner Anthony Kilbride, has formed the Relentless Group, which is involved in major real estate projects in Manchester. Neville, who is also active in education, helped set up University Academy 92 in Manchester for young people from low-income families. His podcast Stick to Football receives over a million views per week. Neville works as a pundit for Sky Sports and ITV and has appeared as a guest investor on the BBC's Dragon's Den. Neville's personal fortune is estimated at £70–100 million.

**Life after football**

David Beckham, Lukas Podolski, Michael Owen, Gerard Pique and Gary Neville's careers were not limited to football. Their experience shows that great opportunities open up for footballers even after their professional careers. Someone invests in sports businesses, someone chooses technology or ecology, and still others try their hand at real estate, restaurants and media projects. Some of them used the fame they gained during their football career, while others built businesses from scratch in completely new areas. Most importantly, after completing their sports careers, they were able to achieve great success in new directions.