David Beckham is suing actor Mark Wahlberg over a fitness deal which the former footballer claims left him missing out on millions in profit.
Beckham's company, DB Ventures Ltd, has claimed that it was misled into working with fitness brand F45 as Beckham became their global ambassador.
According to The Sun, Beckham and Wahlberg became friends after the former footballer made his move from Real Madrid to LA Galaxy in 2007, with them living in the same neighbourhood in Los Angeles.
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Wahlberg had become a minority shareholder in F45 in 2019 while in the following year Beckham agreed to work with the company.
He featured in a number of since deleted social media posts promoting F45 in his role as an ambassador for them.
However, Beckham's company is alleging that he was promised shares in the company and that these would have been handed over in early 2022, but there was a delay of several months during which time the value dropped significantly.
At the beginning of 2022 the value of an F45 share was around $11 (£8.89) before climbing to over $15 (£12.13) in February and then plummeting sharply to under $4 (£3.23) by the middle of the year.
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Beckham's lawyers have claimed that because of the delay in him receiving shares he lost out on around £8.5 million in potential profits.
Wahlberg's business the Mark Wahlberg Investment Group is also being sued, as are F45 founders Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deutsch.
The defendants have said the allegations of 'fraudulent conduct' are baseless and asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit against them.
Their motion to dismiss claims that Beckham's lawsuit 'tries to make up with length what it lacks in merit'.
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Beckham had first sued F45 back in 2022 alongside golfer Greg Norman over allegations that they were owed sponsorship payments in cash and stock.
As per the Metro, the athletes claimed their association with F45 had allowed the company to go public with a much higher valuation than it had two years earlier.
They alleged that they had not been paid 'substantial cash and equity compensation', but a judge later told Beckham and Norman that they would have to sue separately.
The F45 stock did not recover from that plummet in the early months of 2022 and now each share is worth just 15c (12p).
LADbible have contacted David Beckham and Mark Wahlberg's representatives for comment.
Topics: David Beckham, Mark Wahlberg, Money
Joe Harker