Bernie Ecclestone: The life and times of controversial former F1 supremo

Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone: The life and times of controversial former F1 supremo

The former F1 chief has had – to put it mildly – an interesting life

Shay Rogers

Thursday 12 October 2023 14:53

A powerhouse in the F1 world, Bernie Ecclestone is the very reason why Formula One still exists today. A man who has stood the test of time, and moulded the sport we love into a global powerhouse, helped to transform the sport at a time when drivers and teams alike were unhappy with the state of play.

Born on 28th October 1930 in Suffolk, England, measuring 5 feet and 2 inches, Ecclestone's impact on Formula One would go on to be far more sizeable than his stature.

He first shot onto the scene in 1958, attempting and failing to qualify for the Monaco and British Grand Prix’s, having purchased two chassis from the disbanded Connaught Formula One Team. The Brit would return to the Formula One paddock in 1971, after purchasing the Brabham team for £100,000.

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After the formation of the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) in 1974, he would go on to be at the forefront of conversations about television rights, helping to secure both the teams and himself money for appearing on TV. Immediately after he sets out for a fairer distribution of the prize money, achieved eventually in 1978.

Ecclestone has been married three times and has four children. Most recently, at the age of 89 on 1st July 2020, he welcomed his fourth child, Alexander Charles Ecclestone to the world.

In October of 2023, Ecclestone was handed a 17-month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud over £400 million that he failed to declare.

Bernie Ecclestone net worth

In 2021, Forbes World Billionaires list estimated that he had a net worth of $3.5 billion, while the Sunday Times Rich List ranked him the 65th richest person in the UK.

Ecclestone amassed the bulk of his fortune during his time at the top of Formula One. Namely, it all began when he started as Chief Executive of FOCA in 1978, going on to secure prize money for the teams involved in the championship.

In 1987, Ecclestone would become increasingly involved with FOCA rivals FISA (an extension of the FIA), becoming the Vice President of Promotional Affairs. In what turned out to be one of the most significant moves in F1 history, he would setup the Formula One Promotional Association – later known as FOM or Formula One Management.

The new system was far more profitable than what was in place before, and by 1993 when close accomplice Max Mosley became FIA president, Ecclestone was granted the commercial rights to the sport for 15 years.

In 1996, Ecclestone transferred ownership of his business to wife Slavica for tax reasons, with FOM now owned by SLEC. By 2000, he had sold 50% of his stake in the company for over $1 billion to Morgan Grenfell Private Equity and Hellman & Friedman.

In 2001 he sold another 25% for $987.5 million, leaving him with just a 25% of SLEC. By 2002, the Kirch Group, which owned the other 75% of SLEC fell into administration, handing control to the banks.

CVC Capital Partners took his final stake in 2005, but he remained as F1’s CEO after the move.

Outside of F1, he was part of a consortium with Flavio Briatore that purchased Queens Park Rangers Football Club in 2007, before going on to sell it to Caterham F1 Team owner Tony Fernandes in 2011.

Famously, he sold a residence of his in Kensington Palace Gardens for $57.4 million in 2004, despite never living in it. At the time, it was the most expensive house ever sold.

An F1 driver, manager and a team owner

Before he ran the commercial side of the sport, Ecclestone was a manager, driver and team owner for nearly 20 years.

Managing Stuart Lewis-Evans, he purchased two F1 chassis from Connaught Racing, intending to sell them for profit in Australia, but failed to do so, allowing Lewis-Evans to use one on his way to fourth at the season opening Monaco Grand Prix in 1958.

After Lewis-Evans signed for Vanwall, Ecclestone attempted to qualify his cars at the 1958 Monaco and British Grand Prix’s himself, failing to do so, before Lewis-Evans tragically died in an accident at the Moroccan Grand Prix. The incident forced Ecclestone to cut his ties with the sport for a short while.

Meeting future world champion Jochen Rindt at the 1965 South African Grand Prix helped him to make a full-time return to racing as his manager. Rindt’s death at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix would see him become the only posthumous champion in history, as Ecclestone quit the sport for a second time.

By 1971 he had turned team owner again, purchasing the Brabham team for £100,000, going on to win two championships with Nelson Piquet in 1981 and 1983.

In 1988 he sold the team for $5 million – a handsome return on his investment, while he continued on in the sport with his FOCA role.

Bernie Ecclestone wives and his family

Bernie Ecclestone has been married three times, has four children and five grandchildren. He had a child with his first wife, Ivy in 1955 called Deborah. After divorcing, he went on to have a 17-year relationship with Tuana Tan, which ended in 1984 when his second wife Slavica became pregnant.

The two would be married for 23 years until 2008, when Slavica filed for divorce and received a settlement of over $1 billion. He had two children with Slavica – Tamara (born 1984), and Petra (born 1988).

Most recently, he married the Brazilian Grand Prix’s Vice President of Marketing, Fabiana Flosi, with whom he had his most recent child - Alexander in 2020. Fabiana is 46 years old and has been dating the Brit since 2012.