Ecclestone’s wealth takes a £460 million hit

2016 F1 season

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Bernie Ecclestone’s estimated wealth has fallen by £460 million since last year according to the Sunday Times Rich list, published today.

The Formula One boss, who is now believed to be worth £2.48 billion, has fallen nine places to 42nd in the annual index of the richest people in Britain. It’s the largest drop in his wealth since his 2009 divorce settlement after splitting from his second wife, Slavica, whose wealth is valued at £740m.

Concerns over the state of Formula One – the sport has lost one-third of its worldwide television viewership since 2008 – have contributed to the re-evaluation of Ecclestone’s wealth.

His children Tamara and Petra have also spent a chunk of the family fortune accumulated by Ecclestone’s past and current earnings from the sport. Their multi-million pound weddings have made them a fixture in the tabloid press.

The next-highest motor racing figures on the list are retired former Paddock Club chief Paddy McNally, valued at £570m, and McLaren boss Ron Dennis who is valued at £300m.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and his wife, ex-Williams test driver Susie Wolff, are jointly valued at £240m. The team’s top driver, reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, features in the top 1,000 for the first time. His fast-rising wealth is now valued at £109m, thanks to a £21.4m salary before title-winning bonuses.

Other motor racing figures on the list include ex-driver Johnny Dumfries, the Marquess of Bute, valued £122m. Circuit owners Kevin Wheatcroft and Martin Birrane are listed at £120m and £109m respectively. Ex-team boss Eddie Jordan, who does not appear in the top 1,000, is valued at £85m.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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28 comments on “Ecclestone’s wealth takes a £460 million hit”

  1. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
    24th April 2016, 11:30

    I bet all of the people made redundant following the Caterham Team’s liquidation feel really bad for him. And I bet representatives of the Monza circuit are really cut up by this news.

    I guess Petra just really “needed” some more shoes…

    1. Pretty sure the Caterhamdudes/dudettes are qualifyed enough to get new jobs easily enough, theres noone there lacking for bread on their table.

  2. Lol the picture fits the topic like a caption competition…”ooh that smarts”

  3. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
    24th April 2016, 13:34

    So it sounds like he will now live under a bridge… in Dubai.

    1. WillOfTheSupremo
      24th April 2016, 22:21

      Hehe.. came back at this comment after 5 hours.. still puts an evil smile on my face…

      Not sure why, though…

  4. I didn’t realise Ron has done quite so well. I suppose I find his absurd, unspendable wealth the most palatable of those mentioned.

  5. It shows what a crooked system it is, when the guy who is basically just a manager, and some irrelevant “vip club” shyster, are so much richer than any of the team bosses. People like Frank Williams don’t even feature on the list it seems. Ron Dennis, who has always been the sharpest about growing his F1 team into a global business, is barely worth a half of some glorified club manager.

    1. You don’t get money for nothing so the other guy is just simply better at business than Ron. I don’t know where they get these values from though how can they know when the tax authorities in a number of countries have no idea what these people earn and should pay.

    2. Frank stole Senna’s black box. The gods don’t smile on that type of treachery

  6. My heart bleeds…

  7. Hell get over it with the rest of his nearly two and half billion pounds…

  8. He’ll. Bloody autocorrect…

  9. So, it was a pretty expensive dinner.

  10. So what will I do next?

    A) Feel sorry for Ecclestone and buy two Monza Fans Club hospitality packages for €2000 to make him feel better

    B) Will donate some € to some other people, who deserve it more, need it more and will use it more wisely

  11. I wish ill to no one. In this case I do find myself infinitely unsympathetic.

  12. Aren’t his daughters old enough to pay for their own birthday parties?

    1. Wouldn’t that require them to have jobs to pay for such things? Why bother – daddy can pay for everything whilst you can go to the beach and look at pictures of yourself on your Facebook feed.

  13. Bad news for Monza the hosting fee is now 500 million a year.

  14. I’m sure he’ll get over it.

    He just needs to get a few tracks to pay him for double points again.

  15. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy

  16. Oh noes, now he can only buy 9 747-800’s and still have petty cash for a 200 million dollar yacht. Scrooge McDuck problems.. Poor Bernie, he wanted 10 747’s.

  17. Awwww Bernie :(

    I guess it’s time to take some bribes, increase airing license costs, increasing race hosting fees and screwing the smaller teams out of their share of money. Don’t worry, you’ll make it up soon!

  18. The Blade Runner (@)
    25th April 2016, 15:07

    He really is the Montgomery Burns of Formula 1.

    “Release the hounds, Smithers…”

  19. Don’t be daft he’s just hidden it somewhere else !

  20. Apex Assassin
    26th April 2016, 2:10

    So is anyone surprised he’s trying to devalue F1 to increase his stake before the new owners take over and the value increases?

  21. If a big black sink-hole opened up underneath BCE’s house this morning
    and suddenly he was not there any more, I’m trying very hard to convince
    myself that there’d be at least six sympatheic posts on this site.

    Well. OK maybe three posts….?

    No ?

  22. ResultantAsteroid
    26th April 2016, 11:56

    Oh boy … this means we’re scheduled for far more ridiculous and knee-jerk changes to the sport’s regulations, ticket prices, TV coverage prices, … etc.
    This is Bernie we are talking about here. He will not admit that his lower F1 income is because of HIS management. He is awesome and God’s precious gift to us. He will blame us useless/brainless F1 fans for this, so he will punish us by reaching deeper into our pockets.

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