Bernie Ecclestone to Stay on as Formula One Boss After Takeover: Report

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Longtime Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone will remain involved with his beloved sport, even after an imminent takeover by a U.S.-based media company.

Ecclestone, head of Formula One for the past four decades, says he’s been asked to stay on for three years after the takeover, Reuters reports.

Liberty Media would acquire the rights to Formula One if a planned deal with CVC Capital Partners, which owns a controlling stake in F1, goes through. The deal is reportedly worth $8.5 billion.

The media company owns several telecommunications, entertainment and media properties, and is owned by John Malone — known by many as “Darth Vader” for his unique business style.

“They want me to be here for three years,” Ecclestone, 85, told Reuters. When asked about the deal’s timeline, Ecclestone said, “Honestly, I don’t think anybody knows.”

The deal could be finalized (and a new chairman added) at a Formula One board meeting scheduled for September 13. Who will head the board remains a mystery, but Ecclestone believes it might be Chase Carey, executive vice-chairman of 21st Century Fox and a director of Sky News owner Sky Plc.

Ecclestone says the sport would benefit from Carey’s media savvy. What exact role Ecclestone would take on isn’t known.

The Guardian reports that Liberty Media might buy a 20 percent stake in Formula One at first, before taking full control later this year. The sport has an annual turnover of $1.9 billion, making it an attractive buy for a profit-seeking company. Two Liberty Media-owned companies reportedly attempted to buy F1 in 2014.

[Image: Ryan Bayona/ Flickr]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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 19 comments
  • Eyeflyistheeye Eyeflyistheeye on Sep 07, 2016

    Yes, keep the person on who's been overseeing the irrelevance of F1. Excelsior!

  • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Sep 07, 2016

    Can someone summarize why people dislike this guy so much? I'm not into F1 so I don't really get it. First time I saw him was on Top Gear when he drove around the Monaco GP circuit with Clarkson in a Citroen DS3 RS (or whatever trim).

    • See 8 previous
    • ToddAtlasF1 ToddAtlasF1 on Sep 07, 2016

      @MBella I'm with MBella on this. The FIA and some of the participants are behind the ridiculous and boring current regulations. Even former drivers play a role in misadministering the rules on race weekends. Bernie is responsible for the TV coverage being inferior to what it was 22 years ago, the races being in backwards cesspools like Turkey and Austin, and the barriers that keep more teams from competing. Its hard to say he has done as much harm as the FIA's tire ideas, contrived racing gimmicks like DRS, or the latest efforts to harness cultivated idiocy surrounding CO2 to tie the sport to flatulent and absurd drivetrains.

  • PeriSoft PeriSoft on Sep 07, 2016

    I wonder what he'll do when he reaches retirement age...

    • TonyJZX TonyJZX on Sep 08, 2016

      ecclestone will outlive us all the good die young which is why he's still around

  • Fred Fred on Sep 07, 2016

    This just in... http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28656050 He buys his way out of jail time.

    • See 1 previous
    • Fred Fred on Sep 08, 2016

      @ToddAtlasF1 Sorry about that, it showed up as current news on another site and I posted the link rather than that site.

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