According to the football legend, his former friend and business partner caused him serious financial losses in their joint gym business.
In a 209-page lawsuit, David Beckham is suing his former national friend and business partner, Mark Wahlberg, over an alleged financial loss of 8.5 million pounds (about HUF 3.89 billion at the current exchange rate). Wahlberg and the other defendants, however, say the former football legend’s allegations of “fraudulent conduct” are baseless and have asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
The two celebrities got along when the former soccer player bought a house in 2007 in the same Los Angeles area where Mark Wahlberg lived. The well-known actor became a minority shareholder in the gym chain F45 Training in 2019 after purchasing a stake in the company through his investment group. Wahlberg became brand director in 2022 at F45, founded in 2011, which has more than 2,000 gyms worldwide (1,000 of which are in the United States, 500 in Australia, but they are also present in Budapest).
As a “brand ambassador”, Beckham has repeatedly shared posts on Instagram promoting the F45, but has since deleted those images. According to her, her former boyfriend “misled her during business deals”, which caused her millions in damages, so she now accuses Wahlberg’s company, Mark Wahlberg Investment Group, of “fraudulent behavior”, but filed a lawsuit against the founders of F45, Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deutsch too.
Beckham’s company, DB Ventures Ltd., originally started litigation against F45 Training in October 2022, but then filed the lawsuit together with Australian golfer Greg Norman, who also took on the position of brand ambassador. However, the court ordered the two athletes to file lawsuits separately.
Incidentally, in August 2023, F45 Training Holdings withdrew from the New York Stock Exchange after its share price fell by 75 percent. Business papers know that the New York Stock Exchange previously warned Mark Wahlberg’s company that it does not comply with stock exchange regulations.
(via The Independent)
