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Originally from a small town in England, Bernie started of his career as a mechanic, and over the years made huge strides professionally, to eventually become the owner of Formula One.

Born on 28 October 1930 in St Peter South Elmham, a small hamlet in England, Bernie quit school at the age of 16, to work at a local gas station. At the end of World War II, Ecclestone started a business in the trading of spare parts for motorcycles and ventured into a motorcycle dealership with Fred Compton. Aspiring to become a racer, an accident in a Formula 3 race shifted his focus away from racing and back to doing what he was best at, making money!

In 1972, Ecclestone bought the Brabham team from Ron Tauranac for £100,000. In the 15 year period that Bernie owned the team, they were unable to win a constructor’s title, but Nelson Piquet won two drivers titles with the team. In 1987 he sold the team for $5 million to a Swiss businessman, Joachim Luhti .

In 1978, Ecclestone became chief executive of the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) and with Max Mosley as his legal advisor he settled a series of legal issues with the FIA after which he secured the right for FOCA to negotiate television contracts for the Grands Prix. In order to do this Ecclestone established Formula One Promotions and Administration (FOPA) and distributed the money earned from he TV rights between the FIA, the teams, and himself. For decades after, Ecclestone continued to rule over Formula One, quelling any discord that arose between the teams or the FIA and the Formula One Management. In 2005, CVC Capital Partners announced that it would purchase Ecclestone‘s shares of the Formula One Group as well as those owned by Bayerische Landesbank. The exact ratio of the CVC/Ecclestone shareholding is not yet known, but Bernie Ecclestone to date remains at the helm of Formula One, still known as the F1 Supremo.

Married to an Armani super model, co-owner of a football club, and once the 3rd richest man in the UK, Bernie Ecclestone achieved everything there was to, coming from the humble beginnings of a garage mechanic. Despite courting controversy many a time Ecclestone knows only one way to emerge from any situation, and that is at the top.