Source: Crazy Days and Nights

The former head of this mostly foreign based sports empire was forced out in part because he hosted not old enough to drive parties for sponsors and friends where the female guests were not yet old enough to drive.

Bernie Ecclestone
British business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns Delta Topco, the previous ultimate parent company of the Formula One Group

End of the road for Ecclestone as Liberty complete F1 takeover

Bernie Ecclestone’s four-decade reign as the ruler of Formula One is over after American company Liberty Media completed its £6 billion purchase of the sport.

Chase Carey, who was already installed as the sport’s chairman, replaces Ecclestone as chief executive officer.

Ecclestone, 86, has been handed the role of chairman emeritus, and will be available as a source to the new board, but he will no longer be involved in the day-to-day running of Formula One for the first time since the 1970s. .

“I’m proud of the business that I built over the last 40 years and all that I have achieved with Formula One, and would like to thank all of the promoters, teams, sponsors and television companies that I have worked with,” Ecclestone said.

“I’m very pleased that the business has been acquired by Liberty and that it intends to invest in the future of F1. I am sure that Chase will execute his role in a way that will benefit the sport.”

Earlier in quotes carried by German publication Auto, Motor and Sport, Ecclestone appeared to suggest he had been forced out by the new owners.

He said: “I was deposed today. This is official, I do not run the company any more. My position has been taken by Chase Carey.

“My new position is one of those American terms — it’s something like an honorary president. I have this title now, even though I don’t know what it means.”

He added: “My days in the office will be getting quieter now. Maybe I will attend a grand prix sometime in the future. I still have many friends in Formula One and I still have enough money to afford to attend a race.”

Ecclestone, who turns 87 in October, has ruled Formula One for 40 years. But American company Liberty has now put their own team in place after clearing the final hurdle of their purchase. – Source

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