Bernie Ecclestone is a giant in the world of motorsport, who turned Formula 1 into an incredible sight that we know today.
This is all you need to know about the 86-year-old British billionaire, who has led all motorsport for 40 years, and is currently the "honorary president."
The British entrepreneur was at the head of all sports for almost four decades, until he sold everything for a tidy sum earlier this year.
Who is Bernie Ecclestone? Biography.
Ecclestone was born into a fisherman's family in Suffolk in 1930. At the age of 16, the boy graduated from high school and immediately after the end of World War II he got his first job at a gas plant, where he checked the purity of gas.
Motorsport came into his life when he, along with a friend, was engaged in the sale of motorcycle parts. And in 1949 he first took part in the Formula 3 race. Bernie did not engage in motorsport for a long time, mainly it was a race at the local circuit. But he often won prizes and, in the end, won.
Having survived the accident, he got out of racing.
After several successful investments in real estate, he returned to motorsport as a manager, making his first contribution to Formula 1 and acquired the assets of a racing team.
He was the owner of the team until 1978, when in 1974 he created the association of designers and four years later became its executive director.
How much did Bernie Ecclestone sell Formula 1?
Eccleston finally sold the commercial rights to Formula 1 of the American corporation Liberty Media in 2017, after approval by the International Automobile Federation (FIA).
The FIA said that their partnership with Liberty Media "guarantees the continued success and development of" Formula 1.
She bought over 18% of Delta Topco, the F1 Group holding company, in September.
Absorption of all motorsport cost the American company 6.4 billion pounds.
Ecclestone's position was taken by Chase Carey, the mustachioed vice chairman of 21st Century Fox.
How much is Bernie Ecclestone?
With his participation in Formula 1, the eccentric business tycoon has amassed a fortune. It is estimated at 2.5 billion pounds.
He has three marriages. Bernie Ecclestone’s first wife was Ivy Bamford, he divorced his second wife, model Slavika Radic in 2009, and since 2012 he has been married to Fabian Fosley.
Last August, Fabiana's mother was abducted in her native Brazil.
Bernie has three daughters: Deborah from his first marriage with Ivy, Deborah and Peter from his second marriage with the Croatian model Slavika.
Who is Tamara Ecclestone?
Tamara Ecclestone Rutland is the second daughter of Bernie Ecclestone and the first child married to his second wife Slavika. The girl works as a model and television commentator.
The girl was born in 1984 in Milan. In 2009, she got on the cover of the Italian magazine Sky Sports and played in her own reality show on Channel 5.
Her first television appearance took place in 2006 at the age of 22, when she commented on the broadcast of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship on Channel 4.
In May 2013, she also posed for Playboy magazine.
In the same year, she married British stockbroker Jay Rutland. The couple had a daughter, Sofia, who is now three years old. The family lives in Kensington, London, in a house worth 45 million pounds. In 2016, Jay Rutland was charged with contributing to the crime. The charges were later dropped.
