Gary Lineker remains the BBC’s top earner, receiving an estimated £1.35m in the 2023/24 financial year, as revealed in the broadcaster’s annual report this summer. This figure places him around £500,000 above fellow presenter Zoe Ball. His salary plays a significant role in his impressive net worth, which is speculated to be approximately £30m. Since retiring from professional football, Lineker has expanded his career into television, appearing on BT Sport, NBC, and Al Jazeera, and maintaining a long-standing promotional partnership with Walkers Crisps.
On the personal front, Gary Lineker has four sons with his former wife, Michelle Cockayne. They were married in 1986 and have four sons together: George, Harry, Tobias, and Angus, who are all now adults. The couple divorced in 2006, citing “unreasonable behaviour” in the proceedings, but have remained friends despite their separation.
In recent developments about his career, [Gary Lineker] said, “Discussions regarding his contract have just started. During Saturday’s Match of the Day, he quipped it was his last episode – swiftly clarifying it was only ‘before the international break’. Speaking on his The Rest is Football podcast with co-hosts Micah Richards and Alan Shearer, Lineker mentioned the ‘strange few days’, but acknowledged ‘there are bigger problems in the world, that’s for sure’.”