Lineker joins ITV's World Cup coverage after 26 years at BBC as £30m fortune grows

Gary Lineker will appear as a pundit on ITV during the 2026 World Cup, crossing one of British broadcasting’s longest-standing divides just months after ending his 26-year association with the BBC. The 65-year-old is set to feature in ITV’s coverage of the Germany vs Ivory Coast fixture, his first appearance on the BBC’s main commercial rival.

Lineker departed the BBC in May 2025, walking away from a salary reported at more than £1.35 million per year, where he had been the corporation’s highest-paid presenter and the defining face of Match of the Day. His exit prompted widespread speculation about what would follow — and the ITV role represents an answer few anticipated.

Financially, Lineker has little cause for concern. His net worth is currently estimated at approximately £30 million, built across football earnings, a lengthy broadcasting career, and endorsement deals. The most significant recent driver of that wealth, however, is Goalhanger Podcasts, the production company he co-founded with Tony Pastor and Jack Davenport in 2018.

Goalhanger is the home of the The Rest Is… franchise, which spans The Rest is History, The Rest is Entertainment, The Rest is Politics, and The Rest is Football — the latter co-hosted by Lineker alongside Alan Shearer and Micah Richards. The company generated almost £38 million in revenue during its last financial year and has surpassed 250,000 paying subscribers. Lineker retains at least a 25 percent stake.

The 2026 World Cup has added further to that picture. Lineker, Shearer, and Richards have relocated temporarily to an apartment in New York City to produce a 40-episode run of The Rest is Football for Netflix. Reports indicate the streaming platform paid around £14 million for exclusive daily rights to the series, representing a substantial new income stream for the trio.

The ITV punditry role, while a single fixture rather than a full tournament commitment, underlines how completely Lineker has repositioned himself since leaving the BBC — moving from salaried broadcaster to independent media entrepreneur with a presence across television, podcasting, and streaming.