David Beckham is among the richest individuals in football but his wealth pales in comparison to a former Premier League star's staggering net worth.

The former Manchester United midfielder has become an entrepreneur since hanging up his boots in 2013 and took on his main business venture a year later. He exercised an option to take a Major League Soccer club to Miami and in 2018 his wish was granted as Inter Miami were launched as MLS' 25th club.

Beckham is one of many legendary footballers who have turned to entrepreneurship post-retirement and many of them have been far more successful as a business person. That's the case for one of his former teammates whose net worth has reached an unimaginable level.

Beckham's Former Teammate Mathieu Flamini Is A Billionaire

Beckham saw out his career in the USA with LA Galaxy before becoming a co-owner of Inter Miami, but he spent most of his playing days in Europe. His time in Italy came with AC Milan, where he played with big names, including Brazilian icon Ronaldinho.

Former Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini linked up with Beckham in Milan, spending five years with the Rossoneri before returning to the Emirates in 2016. The Frenchman didn't quite reach the heights of England's former captain but he has more than outperformed the former England captain with his business venture.

Back in 2025, The Sunday Times Rich List reported that Beckham and his wife Victoria had a combined net worth of £500 million. That wealth came from not only the Miami expansion but other ventures.

Flamini only needed one to accumulate a remarkable net worth of £10 billion and that came through GFBiochemicals, a biochemical company he founded in 2008. Specialising in producing levulinic acid, this reduces CO2 emissions in manufacturing processes for items such as detergents by as much as 80 percent.

The former France midfielder is GF Biochemicals' chief executive and co-founder, which also helps create substitutes for fossil-based materials and is a leader in environmental sustainability. His astonishing riches have come after a relatively well-paid career in football where, during his time at Arsenal, he won three FA Cups and played in the 2006 Champions League final.

Flamini On How He Built His Wealth

Flamini's post-playing career success hasn't been born out of luck or connections, as he has always held a special connection with the environment. He explained this during an interview with Harvard Business Review in June of this year:

"Football was a childhood dream but the environment has always played an important role in my life. Having grown up in the South of France, I’ve always felt close to nature and the sea. When I was a child, I remember watching documentaries with my family and picking up plastic waste on the beaches."

Flamini added: "I developed an environmental awareness at a very early age. Even during my football career, I wondered how we could find solutions to global warming, and considered the impact humans can have on the environment, but also on their own health."

It was during his time at the San Siro when the Frenchman first saw a path towards becoming a businessman: "When I joined AC Milan at 24, I was one of the youngest players on the squad. Many of my team-mates were already involved in other ventures, which led me to start thinking about entrepreneurship at a very early stage."

He added: "Then there were encounters and opportunities that steered me towards the chemical sector. We developed partnerships with universities in Italy, we met scientists and engineers, and a research group was set up."

Flamini saw a gap in the market which he delved into: "At some point, we decided to focus on a molecule identified by the US Department of Energy as one of the 12 molecules of the future. It showed great potential to replace many petroleum-derived molecules and thus accelerate the transition to a more sustainable chemical industry. However, this platform molecule, levulinic acid, had not yet been developed on an industrial scale. There was therefore a real opportunity here."

The 42-year-old is the second-richest footballer of all time, sitting behind Brunei royal family member Faiq Bolkiah, but he ranks above Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham. It's an astonishing story and makes him one of the richest self-made former athletes in history.