As he faces ransom demands from mother-in-law’s abductors, who is Bernie Ecclestone?
The Formula 1 boss is Britain’s 16th richest man thanks to a lifelong flair for clever business dealing
As Britain’s 16th richest man Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone ruthlessly raced to becoming one of the country’s wealthiest self made billionaires.
Born the son of a humble fisherman and a housewife, he grew up in the small hamlet of St Peter near Bungay, Suffolk, where he first discovered his love of motorsports.
Being taught by his parents the value of money he showed a flair for making deals as a young boy.
He learnt how to negotiate a deal with the American GI’s stationed near his home during World War II delivering messages to their local girlfriends in return for chewing gum.
Immediately after the Germans surrendered Ecclestone went into business trading in spare parts for motorcycles, and formed the Compton & Ecclestone motorcycle dealership with Fred Compton.
His first racing experience came in 1949 in the 500cc Formula 3 Series, acquiring a Cooper Mk V in 1951 but he was forced to retire from the sport following several accidents at Brands Hatch.
He went on instead to become a manager of promising British Formula 1 driver Stuart Lewis-Evans.
When he died in a fiery accident in 1958, Ecclestone disappeared off the motor racing radar for the best part of a decade, re-emerging in the late 1960s as the manager of another promising driver, Austrian Jochen Rindt.
By then, Ecclestone was already very wealthy, having made money in lucrative investments in real estate and loan financing and to manage the Weekend Car Auctions firm.
In 1971 he purchased the Brabham racing for £100,000 selling it in 1987 for £4 million.
While with the team however he formed the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) in 1974 with Frank Williams, Colin Chapman, Teddy Mayer, Ken Tyrrell, and Max Mosley .
Ecclestone became chief executive of FOCA in 1978 with Mosley as his legal adviser.
The pair went on to carry out a coup taking overall control of association.
It saw him set up Formula One Promotions and Administration, giving 47% of television revenues to teams, 30% to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and 23% to FOPA - Ecclestone himself - in return, the administration put up the prize money.
Ecclestone used it to turn what was a minority activity for enthusiasts into the most-watched global sport outside the Olympics and football's World Cup netting him billions from sponsorship and TV rights along the way.