Bernie Ecclestone is a well-known British businessman best recognized for his time as CEO of the Formula One Group, the organization in charge of overseeing Formula One competitions all over the world. He was from a typical British family and was born and raised in the Suffolk town of South Elmham, close to Bungay. At the age of 16, he stopped attending school and began working in a chemical lab. A brief period of trading motorbike spare parts followed this. He briefly became a racer as well, but that lifestyle did not fit him. He also accumulated sizable money as a result of his real estate accomplishment. He then intended to start his racing business, which was his first love. He then acquired the team “Brabham” and made a comeback to the game as a manager for drivers. He was able to advance his career with the team and eventually joined the Formula One Constructors Association as a crucial figure (FOCA). His participation in the sales of the sport’s TV rights in the late 1970s represented the largest professional breakthrough of his career. Ecclestone became one of the wealthiest persons in the UK as a result. In 2007, he and his business partner also acquired ownership of Queens Park Rangers, a British sports team.
Early Childhood & Life
On October 28, 1930, Bernie Ecclestone was born in St. Peter, South Elmham, an English village three miles south of Bungay. His father was a fisherman by trade. Before the family moved to Danson Road, he began attending school in his neighborhood. When he was young, he showed keen business sense, and by the time he was in his early teens, he was making money.
He engaged in several low-level business ventures, such as buying bakery buns in quantity at a discount and then reselling them to his classmates for a profit. He also sold newspapers. He left high school at the age of 16, having lost interest in academics, and began working in a nearby chemical laboratory of a nearby gas company.
His passion for racing had peaked by that point. Additionally, he began selling motor components with his friend Fred Compton and studied the anatomy of motorcycles. This further cleared the path for him to open his own dealership, and thanks to his work and excitement for his business, he began to make money right away. The Second World War had ended by the late 1940s, and “Compton & Ecclestone” was quickly ascending the success ladder.
He began competing in races in 1949, primarily competing at his nearby track, Brands Hatch. Despite being a novice, he generally maintained above-average performance. His intention was to continue racing for a longer period of time, but a number of mishaps and his desire to focus more on his business endeavors caused him to give up racing.
He continued on in search of quick, simple money, and was drawn to the expanding loan-financing and real estate industries. He later became the company’s manager for “Weekend Car Auctions.”
Despite the size of his business endeavors, he was unable to achieve his goal of becoming a millionaire. As a result, he made the decision to rejoin “Formula One,” this time as a manager.
Career of Bernie Ecclestone
He began guiding the talented racer Stuart Lewis-Evans in 1957 and collaborated with him for over a year. Lewis perished on the track at the 1958 “Moroccan Grand Prix” due to a horrific accident. Bernie was completely shaken by this catastrophe, and he decided to leave “Formula One again.” He engaged in other endeavors throughout the ensuing years, and a few years later, he returned to management with the racing driver Jochen Rindt.
A significant turning point in his professional life occurred in 1971. Ron Tauranac, the owner of the “Brabham” team and a potential business partner, approached him. Bernie offered to purchase the squad as a substitute for joining forces with him, and the transaction was quickly completed.
By the start of the 1972 season, Bernie had complete control over the group and was making changes. Initially, these modifications did not favor the team. As a result, the team had a disappointing 1972 campaign. Gordon Murray was appointed as the new head designer after he fired the team designer. By the time the 1974 and 1975 racing seasons rolled around, “Brabham” had won on a number of different tracks.
Bernie was still a contentious character in “Formula One.” He constantly played around with the layout and powertrain of his automobiles. His experiments frequently failed. Bernie decided to sell his squad around the close of the 1987 season, and it was ultimately sold to a Swiss businessman for US$ 5 million, making a sizable profit.
He received an offer to join the “FOCA,” a group he co-founded, at the same time. He was appointed as the CEO of “FOCA,” a major “Formula One” organization that competed directly with the “Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile” (FISA), in 1978. Since Bernie understood it would be a very lucrative agreement for all parties engaged in the sport, the main point of contention between the two titans was the TV rights.
He established the “Formula One Promotions and Administration” (FOPA) for this reason, which recommended that 47% of the overall TV rights revenue be distributed to the teams, and 30% and 23% to the “FIA” and the “FOPA,” respectively. TV rights kept changing hands for the following ten years, and this resulted in the “Concorde Agreement” in 1997. According to the contract, Bernie would hold the TV rights in exchange for a yearly payment.
The “Concorde Agreement” had an expiration date, which was finally in 2007. His agreement with the “FIA” also came to an end in 2012. Bernie was fired from his role as the CEO of the “Formula One Group” after “Liberty Media” acquired Formula One in 2016.
He is credited with being the one figure who launched “Formula One” to fame on a global scale. Numerous biographies of Bernie have been written, following his journey from unsuccessful “Formula One” driver to the billionaire of business.
Controversies of Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone’s life had not always been a bed of roses. He has a reputation for acting rashly while speaking with the media. He compared women to “domestic appliances” in the early 2000s, which caused a significant uproar. He took a lot of heat from feminist organizations before apologizing. He further infuriated feminist groups in 2016 by claiming that no team would take a female driver “seriously” since they aren’t physically capable of operating high-performance vehicles.
In 2009, he praised Hitler, claiming that while everything he did was wicked, he yet accomplished a lot. Bernie Sanders gave a negative speech on democracy. Max Mosley, the son of Nazi leader Oswald Mosley, would be a fantastic prime minister, he added.
Individual Life of Bernie Ecclestone
In 2011, “Forbes” ranked him as the fourth richest person in the UK, with a total estimated wealth of US$ 4.2 billion.
Three times hath Bernie Ecclestone been married. Deborah, a daughter from his first marriage to Ivy Ecclestone, was born to them. His daughter has given him five grandchildren.
Additionally, Bernie had a committed relationship with Tuana Tan. Later on, he wed Slavica Radic. He had two daughters, Tamara and Petra, during a 23-year marriage to Slavica. Slavica filed for divorce in November 2008, and it was approved in 2009 with Bernie providing a sizable payment.
According to news sources from April 2012, Bernie was engaged to Fabiana Flosi, the vice-president of marketing for the “Brazilian Grand Prix.” Her age difference between Bernie is 47 years, and their marriage was made public in August 2012.
Bernie Ecclestone Net Worth
A British businessman with a net worth of $3.3 billion is Bernie Ecclestone. He was ranked as the fourth richest person in the UK in 2011 and had a net worth of $4.2 billion at that time. His semi-recent divorce settlement, which left his ex-wife Slavica Ecclestone with an estimated sum of between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, is probably to blame for the decline in his net worth. He has two daughters, Petra and Tamara Ecclestone, who are both well-known socialites, models, and businesswomen, with Slavica, a former Armani model.