Gary Lineker, the retired English footballer and sports pundit, has accumulated a fortune estimated at $35 million by 2026.
Gary Lineker, now retired, was a distinguished English footballer and well-known sports commentator whose net worth stands at $35 million as of 2026. Gary Lineker also holds the record for the most goals scored by an English player in FIFA World Cup finals, with a total of ten. His professional journey began at Leicester City, his local club, where he played between 1978 and 1985, netting 95 goals in 194 matches. During the 1985-86 season, Lineker represented Everton, finding the net 30 times in just 41 games. In 1986, he transferred to Barcelona, where he contributed 42 goals in 103 appearances. The same year, he earned the FIFA World Cup Golden Boot award. In 1989, Gary Lineker joined Tottenham Hotspur, playing 105 matches and scoring 67 goals. His final professional chapter was with Nagoya Grampus Eight, where he scored four goals in 18 appearances. Across his club and international career, spanning 16 years, he scored a total of 330 goals. Following retirement from football, he joined the BBC, becoming the host of their prominent football show, "Match of the Day." In 2003, he was honored with induction into the English Football Hall of Fame. Lineker has contributed written pieces to "The Sunday Telegraph" and, in 2013, began working with the NBC Sports Network. He stepped down from his BBC role in May 2025 after sharing a social media post that unintentionally conveyed an antisemitic undertone. Gary Lineker is also the founder of Goalhanger Films and Goalhanger Podcasts, with the latter producing the widely popular series "The Rest Is History." It was disclosed in 2017 that the BBC paid Gary Lineker an annual salary of $3 million to host "Match of the Day," which made him the highest-paid individual at the BBC. Born Gary Winston Lineker on November 30, 1960, in Leicester, England, he is the son of Barry and Margaret Lineker and has a younger brother named Wayne, with whom he played football during his youth. His middle name was chosen by his parents to honor former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who shared the same birthday. Gary's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all greengrocers, with Barry operating a fruit and vegetable stall at Leicester Market. As a child, Lineker often assisted his father at the market. Gary, who is of white ethnicity, has spoken about facing racist abuse due to his slightly darker complexion. He attended Caldecote Road School and the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School, excelling in both rugby and football. From ages 11 to 16, he captained the Leicestershire Schools cricket team and played for Aylestone Park Youth football club, later becoming its president. After completing his education with four O levels, one of his teachers noted on his report card that he "focused too much on football" and would "never earn a living from it." Lineker enrolled at Leicester City's youth academy in 1976. From 1995 to 2003, Gary Lineker served as a team captain on the sports game show "They Think It's All Over" and presented the sports program "Grandstand." He became BBC Sport’s top-paid presenter after being named the network’s lead football anchor for programs including "Match of the Day." Additionally, he hosted golf coverage for the BBC and Premier League broadcasts for NBCSN. In November 2024, Lineker announced his departure from "Match of the Day" following the conclusion of the 2024–25 Premier League season. In 1994, he signed a £200,000 deal to appear in television advertisements for Walkers snack foods. Lineker has also made appearances on TV programs such as "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?," "Who Do You Think You Are?," and "Ted Lasso," as well as the film "Bend It Like Beckham." In 2014, he founded the production company Goalhanger Films Ltd., which produced the BBC documentary "Gary Lineker on the Road to FA Cup Glory." Lineker oversees Goalhanger Podcasts, which produces his podcast "The Rest is Football" along with other popular shows like "The Rest is History" and "The Rest is Politics." Gary married Michelle Cockayne in July 1986, and the couple had four sons before their divorce in 2006. Their eldest son survived childhood leukemia after treatment at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital. Lineker supports the children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent and has participated in videos encouraging blood donations. Gary and Michelle were patrons of the charities Leukaemia Busters from 1994 to 2005, and Lineker has also been involved with Cancer Research UK and Fight for Life. He wed Danielle Bux on September 1, 2009, in Italy, but they divorced in 2016, reportedly due to Lineker’s reluctance to have more children. In 1995, Gary became a freeman of the City of Leicester and has been affectionately dubbed "Leicester's favourite son." In 2002, he supported a £5 million rescue bid for his former club, Leicester City, which ultimately saved the team from liquidation, leading to his appointment as honorary Vice President of the club. In 2017, Gary Lineker was among several British celebrities named in the Paradise Papers for owning property in Barbados through offshore companies, which could have allowed tax avoidance upon selling the properties. In March 2023, he successfully appealed a decision by HM Revenue and Customs that sought to charge him £4.9 million in income taxes for his work with BT Sport and the BBC during specific periods. HM Revenue and Customs argued that Lineker was an employee of both companies simultaneously, but a judge ruled he was a freelancer. That same month, Lineker criticized the British government’s asylum policies on Twitter, prompting the BBC to state that his actions breached their social media guidelines. The BBC announced that Lineker would not present "Match of the Day" until a clear position on social media use was established. Many of his colleagues withdrew from BBC Sport roles in solidarity, and the show aired temporarily without hosts or studio presentation. Three days after his suspension, the BBC ended it and announced an independent review of social media guidelines for freelancers outside news coverage. Lineker was honored as the PFA Players' Player of the Year for the 1985–86 season and received the FWA Footballer of the Year award for the 1985–86 and 1991–92 seasons. He led the English First Division in scoring during the 1984–85, 1985–86, and 1989–90 seasons and topped the English Second Division charts in the 1982–83 season. In 1986, he finished as the runner-up for the Ballon d'Or, won the Onze de Bronze and FIFA World Cup Golden Boot, and was named to the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. Lineker also claimed the Onze Mondial in both 1986 and 1987 and received the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1990, the FIFA World Player of the Year bronze award in 1991, and the FWA Tribute Award in 1997. In 2003, he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame and appointed a Visiting Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, in 2020. Loughborough University awarded him an Honorary Master of Arts in 1992. For his television work, Lineker won Television and Radio Industries Club Awards for Sports Presenter in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2011. In 2017, he received a National Television Award nomination for Most Popular TV Presenter for "Match of the Day." Gary Lineker resides in a £4 million mansion located in South London. The property features a private gym, a private cinema, and a landscaped garden equipped with a wooden pergola and a fire pit. © 2026 Celebrity Net Worth / All Rights Reserved