How did F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone make his money?

Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone remains a mythical figure for new-age fans. The diminutive, 5'2" tall man in his 90s is someone that shook everyone's spines in the paddock when he walked by. What was it about him that made him such a feared personality in the paddock?

How did he rise to the top of the sport and how is he worth $3.5 billion right now? In this feature, we relive the life of Bernie Ecclestone and how the man from St Peter, South Elmham, ended up controlling the pinnacle of motorsport for close to three decades.

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How did the F1 supremo make his money?

Early Life

Ecclestone was born in St. Peter, South Elmham (a small village in the English county of Suffolk) on October 28, 1930. He left school at the age of 16 to work as an assistant in a chemical laboratory. He was a hustler from a very young age as he delivered newspapers and, on his school playground, sold buns at a profit of 25 percent.

From there, he took the next step as he learned the tricks of the trade in Warren Street, where he used to buy and sell used cars. The nature of the business demanded quick wit and an extreme ability to swindle money from the opposition party, a trait that would take Bernie a long way.

The young man also tried his hand at racing, but one crash too many persuaded him to leave that aside and pursue his business interests.

F1 Team Owner

His journey as an F1 team owner surprisingly started very early in 1957 when he became the manager of driver Stuart Lewis Evans and purchased two chassis from the Connaught Formula 1 racing team. After closing shop early on the not-so-profitable venture, Bernie made a return to the sport as a team owner in 1971. This started a 16-year ownership run where the future F1 supremo started to expand his horizons.

He tasted championship success with Nelson Piquet as he won two world championships with him in 1981 and 1983. While Brabham took a turn for the worse after Piquet left, Bernie had already set his eyes on something bigger. He sold the team to Swiss businessman Joachim Luhti in 1988 for US$5 million (after buying it for $120,000 at the end of 1971) and moved on to the next phase of his career.

Taking over the sport

Bernie was one of the first to realize how fragmented F1 was as a sport. There were far too many moving parts that left the sport disorganized. As early as 1974, Bernie started the work of aligning all the moving parts together. He constituted the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) with prominent members from Williams, McLaren, Lotus, and Tyrell.

By 1988, he was the man that emerged as the leader. He was ready to take over the sport and with his best friend Max Mosley becoming FISA president in 1991, all the elements aligned.

Bernie ruled the sport with an iron fist and became the most feared (and respected) man in the F1 paddock. With the sport not being disorganized anymore, it was easier to manage and grow. To add to this, no one entered a negotiation with Bernie and came out on top. With Bernie taking home almost 50% of F1's revenue, he made sure that the sport grew and broke glass ceilings.

Controversies

Looking back, the name Bernie Ecclestone is arguably not looked at with respect and admiration. One of the reasons behind it has been Ecclestone's handling of the sport at various points. With both the FIA and F1 leaders aligned, the two had too much power when it came to the direction in which the sport was going.

To add to this, Bernie's tactics of pitting one team against the other rubbed the teams the wrong way throughout the 90s. The fact that he took almost half the money F1 made did not go down well with the teams either and questions were raised by flamboyant leaders like Flavio Briatore (Renault team principal at the time). Flavio was quoted as saying:

"Nowadays Ecclestone takes 50% of all revenues, but we are supposed to be able to reduce our costs by 50%"."

Bernie's personal choices have been a cause of controversy over the years. Him famously appreciating Adolf Hitler landed him in hot water as well. He'd said:

"Terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was – in the way that he could command a lot of people – able to get things done."

Looking back, all of these things left a bad taste in the mouths of many as the former F1 supremo continued to make money from the sport.

Departure

By 2017, almost 30 years after he rose to the top of the sport, Bernie Ecclestone was removed from his position as the Chief Executive of the Formula One group following its takeover by Liberty media. This put an end to a journey that spanned 60 years and turned Ecclestone into a Billionaire.

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Bernie Ecclestone's contribution

The man had far too many vices to go down as an admirable figure in the current day and age. He entered the sport as a used car salesman and left as a billionaire. There were, however, significant contributions made by him to bring the sport to where it is right now.

F1 is the pinnacle of motorsports but it wasn't the case in the 1970s or 80s or even 90s. The sport faced challenges from other racing series, including IndyCar, as racing grew in America. It stormed through the challenge with Bernie at the helm.

The improvements in safety and the proactive measures implemented during Bernie's reign were remarkable. And finally, the extent to which the sport grew under Bernie cannot be denied. The F1 supremo broke boundaries and took the sport to Africa (Kyalami), India, South Korea, China, and Turkey. Sure, the man had his vices, but when it comes to growing the sport to where it is right now, Bernie played a major role.