I've recently read that David Beckham is now a billionaire. How on earth has that happened ?
Beckham was a decent footballer but nowhere near the best, although anyone reading the British sporting press could be forgiven for believing that he was, in fact, the greatest sportsman, let alone footballer, who ever lived. As a footballer, he was paid silly amounts of money, probably in the tens of thousands of pounds a week increasing to hundreds of thousands when he moved to America. However, even allowing for these insane amounts of money, the sums don't add up.
£50,000 a week for 20 years amounts to £50,000,000. Even £150,000 a week only adds up to £150,000,000. So where does the rest come from ?
Beckham has become a commodity, sold by clever people for whatever they can get. Advertising, promotions, sponsorships, you name it, a man who could barely write his name 25 years ago is now among the super-rich, not because he's brought anything of worth to the world but purely because he's got an image which others can sell.
Obviously Beckham won't be complaining but the rest of us surely should be, for it's us, or at least those who fall the advertising, who have paid for his enrichment. What fools we, or they, are.
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