Ten years ago the midfielder made his Manchester United league debut as a gangly teenager from east London.
Nowadays he plays for Real Madrid, the club with the most successful pedigree in European football, enjoys celebrity status over two continents and has a personal fortune estimated by the Sunday Times at 65 million pounds ($123.8 million).
Yet it is still not quite enough.
Beckham still hungers for success with England and, after his latest disappointment at Euro 2004, another birthday will be a reminder that time is running out for the man with the golden right boot.
Beckham began building his cash mountain with his United debut in 1995, at 19 years old, and went on to secure his first-team place the following season in the club's Double-winning campaign.
He kicked off 1996-97 by scoring one of the two truly memorable goals of his career, hitting the back of Wimbledon's net from the halfway line during open play at Selhurst Park.
Trophies and medals continued to pile up for Alex Ferguson's men with Beckham, on the right flank, forming an outstanding midfield with Paul Scholes, captain Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs.
UNITED TREBLE
The zenith arrived in 1999 with United's historic Treble.
With the FA Cup and Premier League titles in the bag, Beckham replaced the suspended Keane in central midfield as United snatched a breathtaking stoppage-time win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in Barcelona.
International football, however, was not so kind to him.
Feared for his pinpoint crosses and free kicks, Beckham was a key member of England's 1998 World Cup side until early in the second half of their second round meeting with Argentina.
His red card for kicking out at Diego Simeone was followed by a penalty shootout exit for his team mates and a storm of vitriol greeted his return to England.
Where a weaker man might have folded, Beckham responded with a string of performances that culminated in him earning the captaincy in November 2000, an honour he has retained under the stewardship of Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Three years after an effigy of him was hung from a lamp post, Beckham's popularity was not just fully restored but propelled into the upper stratosphere with his other truly memorable goal, scored on a sunlit afternoon in Manchester.
With England trailing 2-1 to Greece and just seconds away from being relegated to the 2002 World Cup playoffs, Beckham equalised with a majestic free kick from 20 metres.
Old Trafford, along with thousands of pubs and households up and down the country, exploded in celebration.
SOBERING TIME
However, it would prove to be a sobering tournament for England, who bowed out at the quarter-final stage to eventual world champions Brazil.
Beckham was reminded of his hero-worship by the youth of South Korea and Japan, but the 2002 finals came too soon after a broken foot for him to reach anything like his full potential.
His personal high point was the revenge exacted on Simeone's Argentina in the group stages, when Beckham rifled home a penalty to secure a 1-0 victory beneath the Sapporo Dome.
Euro 2004, which came a year after Beckham moved to Real, was a similar let-down as Eriksson's side lost in the quarter-finals on penalties to hosts Portugal.
Beckham's lack of impact led to fresh criticism of his football on the back pages of British newspapers, while the state of his marriage to former Spice Girl pop star Victoria ensured him plenty of coverage on the front.
The one certainty is that Beckham will not be fully satisfied with his career until he has a winner's medal with England.
Next year's World Cup in Germany provides possibly the last chance for that, assuming England qualify. Beckham's views have not changed since he spoke shortly before Euro 2004.
"I've been a lucky footballer who has managed so many achievements in the last 10 years," he told reporters.
"The Treble success with United -- the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup in 1999 -- was pretty amazing. That was a special time in my career.
"Scoring the last-minute goal against Greece at Old Trafford that took us to the 2002 World Cup and then the penalty winner against Argentina in the tournament were also big things for me," he added.
"But winning a trophy with England would maybe top everything and crown the whole thing off for me."
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