To modern-day football fans and viewers, Gary Neville is a commentator, a pundit and one of the most recognisable and respected faces in the game.
To those of a slightly older generation, he's a multiple Premier League winner and a former Manchester United and England defender of some repute.
But there's another side to 'GNev'. He has quickly grown a vast business empire since he ended his playing days at Old Trafford in 2011, and those ventures go way outside of football, into property, hospitality and the TV industry.
The 48-year-old has now even joined the panel on BBC One flagship TV show Dragon's Den. He will be a 'Guest Dragon' during season 21 of the programme, in which budding entrepreneurs and business owners make pitches to industry experts in an attempt to secure support for, and investment in, products and services. Neville told fans they would have to wait and see whether he was impressed enough by any contestants to part with some money.
The Sporting News delves a little into Neville's business exploits.
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Businesses owned by Gary Neville
In 2013, two years after he'd hung up his boots at Manchester United, Neville launched a hospitality company named GG Hospitality with his long-time teammate Ryan Giggs. They initially opened the football-themed Cafe Football in London before getting permission to build Hotel Football, which stands now outside the north-east corner of Old Trafford and features a five-a-side pitch on the roof.
The pair also bought the Northern Stock Exchange Building for £1.5 million in 2013 and are planning another hotel and 'public space' at St Michael's Square in Manchester.
Neville is also a part-owner of Salford City, along with fellow former Man United academy graduates Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and his younger brother Phil Neville. They first bought a stake in the club in 2014.
Neville and his Class of '92 colleagues also started the UA92 — their own university — in 2019. According to his website, it was launched because: "Gary wanted to disrupt the traditional education system by creating programmes of study that focused as much on character development and resilience as they did on academia." The university has recently seen its first set of students graduate.
Neville also has his own investment business called Relentless and a property development empire under the name Relentless Developments. The investment company is, according to Neville, "designed to support businesses from launch, through to scale". His investments include the Michelin star restaurant The Man Behind the Curtain in Leeds, which has Michael O'Hare as its head chef.
He said: "Relentless is my favourite word and sums up my approach to life, business, everything really."
Neville also has his own production company called Buzz 16, which produces shows such as The Overlap, Soccerbox, Class of 92 Full Time and The Lawman. Along with Studio 99, and Ventureland, it helped produce the recent David Beckham Netflix documentary series, which has been a big hit.
A first next year in @BBCDragonsden when we have some guest Dragons...first up @GNev2 who was utterly brilliant and owned that chair!! pic.twitter.com/CpMP7BBkX4
— Deborah Meaden 🇺🇦 (@DeborahMeaden) October 17, 2023
Gary Neville net worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Neville is worth $25 million (£19.6 million) as of 2023. His business ventures are clearly paying off.
It's thought that his property development business is his most lucrative. And, of course, he earns money through Sky Sports in his role as a broadcaster.
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When is Gary Neville on Dragon's Den?
It was announced on October 17, 2023 that the BBC TV show would be welcoming a number of 'Guest Dragons' to join regulars Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Sara Davies and Steven Bartlett in series 21.
Gary Neville and fashion designer turned businesswoman Emma Grede are to star in some episodes in series 21 of the show, which is set to air on BBC One in the UK in 2024.
Neville said: "It's a pleasure to join the Dragons as a guest for the new series and see some of the amazing pitches from budding entrepreneurs from different walks of life.
"It was a privilege to share my knowledge and guidance with the brave entrepreneurs who entered the Den, but you’ll have to wait and see whether I committed to any investments!"
Gary Neville role at Salford City
Neville has been hugely involved in the rise of Salford City, where he was the chief executive until October 2022, stepping down for former teammate — and fellow member of the Class of '92 — Nicky Butt to take the role.
The club's rise under Neville's stewardship was charted in a series of Sky documentaries. They've gone from non-league obscurity in the Northern Premier League to League Two in his time at the club, with help from the Class of '92's investment, as well as funding from billionaire Peter Lim.
Lim also owns Valencia, where Neville had a short and ill-fated spell as head coach back in 2016, before vowing never to manage a football team again. He cited his other business commitments as the main reason for stepping down from his CEO role in 2022.