David Beckham claimed that Wahlberg's company violated their contract during a lengthy legal dispute.
David Beckham reached a settlement in a legal case with a fitness company co-owned by Mark Wahlberg, claiming it caused him to lose millions of dollars.
In October 2022, F45 Training was sued by Beckham's company, DB Ventures Limited. The lawsuit stated that F45 owed money for promotional social media posts.
The football celebrity signed a five-year agreement with Wahlberg's company in 2020 to become their brand ambassador. He mentioned that he would be paid $1.5 million annually as compensation.
Beckham became an ambassador for F45 in 2020. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
Beckham's agreement supposedly included receiving shares of the fitness company, which were scheduled to be distributed six months and 12 months following the company's initial public offering in 2021.
Yet, according to the complaint, DB Ventures stated that even though DBVL fulfilled its obligations, F45 did not provide the agreed upon cash and equity compensation to DBVL.
F45 was alleged to have not delivered the shares it was supposed to for eight months after the initial deadline, causing a loss of approximately $9.3 million in value according to Beckham's company.
DBVL stated that this resulted in Beckham losing $10.8 million in potential earnings.
In its court filing, the company requested the court to grant $5 million, $4.5 million, and $1.7 million for the claims mentioned in the lawsuit, all related to contract violation.
F45 first tried to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that DB Ventures Limited misunderstood the contract.
Wahlberg's company wished Beckham's ‘all the best'. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for F45 Training)
But the case progressed and was scheduled to go to trial in 2025, until the companies declared on June 6th that they had reached an agreement.
Dan Dienst, executive vice chairman of Authentic Brands Group, representing DB Ventures Limited, expressed satisfaction with the resolution of the matter and emphasized their commitment to maintaining their investment in F45. He also extended his well wishes to the team for their future endeavors.
Tom Dowd, the CEO of F45 Training, expressed that F45 has been a strong supporter of Beckham for a considerable period. He emphasized that Beckham has also been supportive of their brand. Dowd further mentioned that they are delighted to have come to a mutual business agreement to resolve the issue.
We are dedicated to helping our international franchisees succeed, as shown by the significant increase in same store sales in April: 9.4% for F45, 14.9% for FS8 Pilates, and 41.7% for VAURA Pilates.
We are thrilled about our future and the ongoing expansion of our exceptional fitness brands that achieved strong total system-wide sales of $48.9 million in April.
Beckham's company will continue to invest in F45 Training, according to the press release.
Featured Image Credit: Dominic Lipinski / Stringer/MEGA / Contributor
