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THE F1 BILLIONAIRES RICH LIST

Hi all!

By Garry Sloan The phenomenon of Formula 1 is portrayed as high-octane excite- ment, however behind this façade lies a somewhat ruthless business Garry Sloan is the attracting individuals with very deep pockets. Step forward the bil- author of 'In the pit lionaires involved in Formula 1 at all levels. lane – F1 exposed' and 'Cash is King The F1 Billionaires Rich List explores the world these individuals live - Inside F1's Mon- in and examines their infl uence within the sport’s diff erent areas. ey Maze'. The books he hopes will spark The list profi les 20 billionaires and asks the ultimate question – just discussion and may- how good are they really for Formula 1 in general? be positive chang- es within the sport The following register includes team owners, sponsors, circuit pro- we all love... He moters, broadcasters, and the commercial rights holders. We’re sure uses his investiga- you’ll meet people you’ve heard of here, and also might stumble on tive talents and fo- a few surprises. rensic analysis to explore the busi- ness and commer- cial side of F1. More Respectfully yours, details at garrys- loan.com Garry Sloan 54 PADDOCK

CARLOS SLIM HELU AND FAMILY 1 $68.6 BN

Mexican – Driver Sponsor So began a long association with Perez throughout his career with Sauber, McLar- Previously the wealthiest person glob- en, , Racing Point, and . ally and Mexico’s richest man Carlos Slim Perez landed the deal to drive for Red Bull Helu controls América Móvil, Latin Ameri- in the 2021 season, and ironically for the ca’s most prominent mobile telecom fi rm. fi rst time in his career, the money he could Through Grupo Carso one of the giant con- bring to the team played no signifi cant part glomerates in the world, he also owns in Red Bull’s decision. stakes in Mexican construction, consum- In 2011 Carlos Slim Domit was instru- er goods, mining, real estate companies, mental through his association with the en- and 17% of . Despite tertainment company CIE in bringing back his vast wealth he lives in a “modest” 6-bed- F1 to Mexico. room home in the Lomas de Chapultep- In 2019 newly elected president Andres ec district of Mexico City, close to where he Manuel Lopez Obrador used $21m in fed- grew up, which has been his residence for eral funds usually set aside for the Formu- over 40 years. He also owns the Duke Se- la 1 race on a rail project in Mexico’s impov- mans mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York erished south and announced it would no City, one of Manhattan’s largest private res- longer subsidize the Grand Prix once the idences. Amongst his billionaire toys are a existing contract expired at the end of the rare Bentley Continental Flying Spur and year. the 170ft $40m superyacht Ostar. His col- Without government funding, the organ- lection of rare coins, historical documents, izers OCESA, a subsidiary of CIE, were faced and religious relics, valued at a billion dol- with the prospect of withdrawing from F1. lars, are housed in the Museo Soumaya, Then the mayor of Mexico City,Claudia which he built in 2011, naming the museum Sheinbaum Pardo and a group of business after his late wife. The Carlos Slim Foun- owners forged a partnership. The Mexico dation has donated billions of dollars over City Government acting as an intermediary, the years to social responsibility programs. created a trust that raised the private in- His involvement in F1 with his son Carlos vestment required to stage the Grand Prix, Slim Domit has been the fi nancial backing thus relieving the city government of the of Mexican driver Sergio Perez. It all started burden. with their Telmex telecoms company spon- They signed a new three-year deal, en- soring Perez’s career from the Skip Bar- suring the future of the race until at least ber single-seater series in America. Perez’s 2020, with the name of the race changed father, Antonio Perez Garibay (known as from the Mexico Grand Prix to the Mexico Tono), a former driver and agent, was so City Grand Prix. passionate about motor racing he moved It is unknown if Carlos Slim Domit was his son’s scheduled birth date by a week. one of the ‘business owners’, but it is high- Tono convinced the family doctor to per- ly likely. form a Caesarean so he could attend the 1990’s 24 Hours of Daytona a week later! What infl uence does Carlos Slim Helu Tono met Carlos Slim Domit in 1996 and have in F1? told him that his son was the best of the It is limited to backing one driver; so rookie go-kart drivers proclaiming, “Checo tiny especially compared to what power he is a better driver than [Michael] Schumach- could hold if he decided to spend more of er. He’ll race in one day.” his vast fortune. PADDOCK 55

SIR LEN BLAVATNIK $32.5 BN 2 Dual US/UK citizen – F1 Broadcaster The company is going into battle with the likes of SkySports, winning rights to boxing Ukraine-born Blavatnik, like many of his fel- previously held by Sky and recently securing low Russians, made his early fortune from the the rights to show seven exclusive Italian Se- ‘privatisation’ of assets, in his case, rie A football matches per week in a deal worth aluminium. $987m per season. There is a Russian saying that you should They are taking on Amazon in the UK, which never ask an oligarch how he made his fi rst has broadcast Premier League football matches million! since 2019 and has bidding rights for the 2022- In 2013 Blavatnik sold his stake in Russian oil 25 seasons. company TNK-BP for $7bn. DAZN chairman Kevin Mayer recently stat- Today his investments are channelled ed: “Yeah, I think we are in the position to do it. through his industrial group Access Industries We have the capital to do it, and Len Blavatnik is which includes over $3.8 billion in art and real committed to it. And it’s going to work. estate and a $2 billion share of the DAZN group. Well, Blavatnik is indeed committed to grow- He holds a $6.8 billion stake in chemical giant ing the company. He lent the group $1bn to fa- LyondellBasell Industries which he saved from cilitate its growth during the pandemic. bankruptcy during the fi nancial crises back in Blavatnik is well connected, citing former Is- 2009. raeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and In 2017, he received a knighthood for servic- Ukrainian-born Victor Veksel- es to philanthropy, and his foundation has do- berg as friends. However, he will no doubt re- nated more than $700 million between 2009 gret his friendship with the disgraced Harvey and 2019. Weinstein. His involvement in F1 comes through his Blavatnik has all the billionaire toys, including ownership of the global sports subscription ser- the obligatory $80m 242 ft superyacht Odessa vice DAZN. 11 and four private jets, including a $150m Boe- DAZN has just launched a 24/7 dedicated ing 767. He owns a home in Kensington Palace Spanish language channel DAZN F1 in Spain af- Gardens worth $315m. Famously he was part- ter reaching an agreement with Telefonica’s ing aboard his yacht in Cannes with the likes of Moviestar+ to broadcast races until the start of Jane Fonda, Melanie Griffi th, and Sarah Jessica 2024. The channel will have veteran Spanish F1 Parker, and when a certain Mick Jagger pulled commentator Antonio Lobato and ex-F1 driv- up looking to join the fun, Blavatnik turned him er Pedro de la Rosa heading up the coverage. away. Blavatnik will undoubtedly be pleased DAZN is already covering most sports and is in- with the recent announcement of a race in Mi- volved in motorsport covering Indy car, Formu- ami as he invested $1.2bn into Faena district laE, ExtremeE, the Dakar Rally, the World Endur- back in 2016. ance, and the World Touring car series. DAZN set their sights on 20 Spanish speaking coun- What infl uence does Sir Len Blavatnik tries, and the next step will include a Portu- have in F1? guese F1 channel to cover 11 Portuguese speak- In terms of the TV landscape, he is a consid- ing countries. In February, DAZN announced its erable force. He has facilitated a bidding war for sponsorship of the Scuderia AlphaTauri team for the broadcast rights in F1, with Liberty collect- the 2021 season and signed as a ing the spoils from the victor. brand ambassador in Japan. DAZN means busi- This infl uence is a concern for Formula 1 ness, and in March 2020, they announced the fans, as DAZN will only accelerate the move expansion into 200 countries worldwide, with its away from free-to-air and place coverage be- boxing coverage spearheading the grow hind a paywall. 56 PADDOCK

DIETRICH MATESCHIT 3 $27.9 BN Austrian – Team Shareholder and opportunities to spend the marketing dollars on. Circuit Owner Mateschitz’s involvement in F1 started with Red Bull’s sponsorship of the Sauber F1 Team, which is the co-founder of the led to his purchase in 2004 of the Jaguar F1 team, Red Bull energy drinks empire. He famously start- which in 2005 was renamed . ed the company after watching rickshaw riders in Success followed with four successive Driv- Thailand drinking a syrup-based drink to maintain ers’ and Constructors’ Championship titles from their energy levels. 2010 to 2013, the team becoming the fi rst Austri- Mateschitz, a marketing man, launched the an team to win the title. drink in 250ml slim cans at a price fi ve times that His second F1 team Scuderia AlphaTauri was of Coca-Cola. originally the team which he purchased Fast forward to today, and Red Bull is a global in 2005 with his close friend and former Formu- brand with impressive turnover and profi tability - la One driver, . The team was re- 7.5 billion cans sold in 2019, almost one for each named , Toro Rosso meaning person on the planet. The drink generates $6bn in Red Bull in Italian, and was known as Red Bull’s revenue – a third of which is reinvested into mar- junior team. Berger sold his stake in 2008. keting, including F1. Mateschitz formed the AlphaTauri fashion Mateschitz is a recluse who rarely attends race brand in 2016, with some commenters speculat- weekends and simply does not do interviews. ing it was an attempt to shake off the ‘one-trick In true bond villain style, he owns a private is- pony’ moniker. In 2020 the Scuderia Toro Ros- land in the Laucala island resort in Fiji. He spends so team was renamed Scuderia AlphaTauri, and a great deal of his time and money these days from now on, in a bold statement, it was to be buying and restoring iconic historic properties in known as Red Bull’s sister team. the Austrian Alps. He has his own charitable foun- In 2004, he bought the A1-Ring racing circuit in dation, Wings for Life which funds spinal cord re- , renaming it the , with F1 re- search, and it is run by a former partner Anita turning to the circuit in 2014. Gerhardter with whom he has a son. He has been In a further commitment to F1, Mateschitz has in a long-term relationship with Marion Feichtner. given the green light for the creation of the Red A keen pilot, he built an aircraft hangar next to Bull powertrains business to start building their airport to house his collection of vintage own engines after the announcement of Honda’s planes, which includes a DC-6B that once belonged withdrawal from F1. An initial cheque for $200m to Yugoslav Communist leader Marshal Tito. has been written. Mateschitz has built up an extensive portfo- lio of Red Bull sports teams which include Mo- What infl uence does toGP teams Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Red Bull Dietrich Mateschitz have in F1? KTM Tech 3, Skoda Motorsport rally team, foot- The short answer is bucket loads. ball clubs RB Leipzig, FC Red Bull Salzburg, FC Lief- As the owner of two teams, Red Bull makes ering, , Red Bull Bragantio, New up 20% of the grid, and Mateschitz does not shy York Red Bull’s, the Red Bull sailing team, hock- away from threatening to leave F1 if he is not ey teams EC Red Bull Salzburg, and EHC Red Bull happy with the way the sport is run, warning, “You Munchen; you get the picture. can’t force someone to stay.” Red Bull also has an extensive network of ath- The recent agreement for an engine freeze letes which they fi nancially support, including ski which paved the way for Red Bull to manufacture jumpers, snowboarders, skiers, golfers, squash its own engines, is a good example. players, tennis players, and professional chess play- ’s manager Raymond Ver- er Hikaru Nakamura! The Red Bull chequebook meulen probably best summed it up when he comes out to host a myriad of events, from cliff div- said, “There is only one man who decides - Diet- ing to the soapbox races, so Red Bull is not short of rich Mateschitz.” PADDOCK 57

CHALERM YOOVIDHYA AND FAMILY $20.2 BN 4

Thai – Team Shareholder and Circuit Owner

Chalerm Yoovidhya is the son of the late Red Bull’s F1 investment is controlled by the Red Bull co-founder who ‘other Red Bull’ co-founder Austria’s Dietrich passed away in 2012. Mateschitz. There are 30+ members of the Yoovidhya Yoovidhya has always been happy to take a family that own through off -shore companies backseat and let Mateschitz call the shots. in the British Virgin islands 51% of Red Bull. Yoovidhya often attends races, unlike the Chalerm, alongside his brother Saravoot, reclusive Mateschitz, but the harmony be- are the dominant force, with Chalerm owning tween the two men was shattered in 2020 2% of Red Bull outright. with the sacking of Thai driver . Red Bull is the goose that keeps on giving. Yoovidhya and his wife were big supporters In 2019 dividends to the family amounted to of Albon, and it is believed Chalerm went ‘bal- €200m, and Chalerm was receiving an addi- listic’ over the dismissal of Albon. tional €11.4m. To rub salt in the wound, Yoovidhya had Chalerm likes to keep a low profi le, but he acted as a mentor to Albon, even moving to and his wife Daranee were mentioned in the the UK to become more involved with the infamous , which detailed their team. ownership of fi ve multi-million-dollar proper- Most commenters feel Albon had been ties in London. given every chance to prove himself more The spotlight has also fallen on the family so than previous drivers who had been un- after his son Vorayuth faced charges of speed- ceremoniously dropped from the team ing, hit-and-run, and reckless driving, caus- mid-season. ing death after an accident in Bangkok back in It remains to be seen what lasting damage 2012, resulting in the death of a police offi cer. has been done to the relationship between Vorayuth has been evading the authorities Yoovidhya and Mateschitz. since then, with criminal charges taking fi ve What infl uence does Chalerm Yoovidhya years to be issued then withdrawn only to be have in F1? reinstated after a public backlash. Well, in terms of Red Bull’s involvement in Yoovidhya’s involvement in F1 began with the sport, it is substantial given they own 20% Red Bull sponsoring the Arrows and Saub- of the grid and continue to invest heavily in er teams before purchasing the Jaguar F1 the sport, but the real infl uence it would ap- team back in 2004, and as they say, the rest is pear rests with Mateschitz. history. 58 PADDOCK

SIR JAMES RATCLIFFE

$17.3 BN

5British – Team Shareholder and Sponsor which environmental campaigners have called “planet-wrecking.” Sir Jim Ratcliff e, a former chemical engineer, is Then we come to F1, where he started in Feb the founder, chairman, CEO, and majority owner of 2020 by becoming a principal partner to the the chemical giant, the INEOS Group. Mercedes F1 team – well, if you are going to do it, Ratcliff e founded the company in 1998 and you might as well start with the best. oversaw a rapid expansion by buying up unwanted Using Red Bull as an inspiration, he recognised assets from the likes of BP and ICI using high-risk Red Bull as a brand that went from obscurity to debt to fund the company’s growth. global recognition, telling the Times newspaper, Today the company has 26,000 employees, sales “Everyone on the planet has heard of them now.” of $69bn, and 60 manufacturing sites in 13 coun- Then in Dec 2020, it was announced INEOS had tries.The company is active in fracking and shale purchased a 33.3% stake in the Mercedes F1 team gas production in the UK, with Ratcliff e arguing, to make it joint partners with existing sharehold- “You can’t have an energy policy that means you ers Daimler AG and Toto Wolff . This is all part of can only have a bath when the wind blows.” INEOS’s global ambitions as it moves into consum- He divides his time between Monaco and Hamp- er markets with the upcoming launch of Ratcliff e’s shire, with the 2020 move to Monaco saving him an 4x4 car, the Grenadier. estimated £4bn in tax. Ratcliff e has sunk a £1bn into the project, so he Ratcliff e is a fi tness fanatic with expeditions to means business. the North and South Poles, and a three-month-long In parallel to Red Bull’s AlphaTauri fashion brand, motorbike trek in South Africa is under his belt. INEOS now owns the clothing brand Belstaff . He founded the charity “Go Run for Fun”, en- Let us not forget the launch of INEOS Hygien- couraging thousands of children aged between fi ve ics during the Covid-19 pandemic. In reaction to a and ten to get active by creating celebrity-driven global shortage of sanitising products, INEOS built events. The program has a very simple aim, to get six factories each in under ten days to produce mil- as many kids between the age of 5 and 10 running lions of bottles of hand sanitisers to supply hospi- as much as possible. tals free of charge. Amongst his billionaire toys are the $150m 256ft F1 is attractive for Ratcliff e as he has a master superyacht Hampshire 11 and the $100m 242ft su- plan for the next generation of ‘e -fuels’ commonly peryacht Sherpa. He owns fi ve private jets, which known as synthetic or green fuels. F1, according to are all registered to INEOS. He owns a Gulfstream FIA president will embrace ‘e-fuels’. G650 (M-OVIE), a Gulfstream G550 (M-USIC) and Todt told Auto Motor und Sport magazine that two Gulfstream G280s (M-ISTY & M-INTY), and a Formula 1’s plans to introduce ‘e-fuels’ in 2023 Dassault Falcon 2000EX (M-CHEM). He also owns would even pave the way for better engine regu- an Agusta Westland AW139 helicopter. lations. INEOS is already heavily invested in biofu- Ratcliff e has been nicknamed “JR” after the els through INEOS Bio, which owns a giant refi nery scheming oil tycoon in Dallas and even “Dr No” af- in Florida. ter the James Bond villain. INEOS, a private company until recently, was the What infl uence does Sir James Ratcliff e have in F1? biggest company ‘you’ve never heard of’. Well, it is easier to look at it from the other side This all changed when Ratcliff e decided to en- and simply say F1 will be good for Ratcliff e. ter the world of sports resulting in the ownership On a footnote, I’m not sure Mercedes PR peo- of INEOS America’s Cup sailing team in which his ple would have been pleased with Ratcliff e at the investment is in the region of £110m, the Team launch of his involvement with the team when he Sky cycling team he purchased and rebranded as suggested that “15 or 20 years ago Mercedes was a Team INEOS, and football clubs FC Lausanne-Sport taxi or an elderly gentleman’s car, and I would nev- and OGC Nice. This has led to accusations that Rat- er have bought one!” cliff e is using sport to ‘greenwash’ INEOS’s image, 60 PADDOCK

FINN RAUSING 6 $14.4 BN

Swedish - Team Owner The question for Rausing, who fi nancial- ly supports the team to the tune of $20-$30m Finn Rausing, along with his siblings Kirst- per season, is what will he do next. en and Jörn, is heir to the ‘Tetra Pak’ packag- Well, ’s continued involvement ing empire. rests on decisions taken at a higher level by The company was founded by his Grandfa- the newly created parent group - the ther Ruben, who became Europe’s fi rst self- biggest car conglomerate in the world. made billionaire. This may leave Rausing looking for a new Although always credited as the inventor title sponsor to replace the departing Alfa of the Tetra Pak, the design was created by Romeo. Swedish engineer Erik Wallenberg. A new engine deal has been speculated on In the smartest move of his life, Rubens with Renault, who are keen to have a custom- paid Wallenberg six months’ salary as a one- er team to supply additionally the works Al- off payment for the design rights. pine team, but in all likelihood, the team will Tetra Pak, which replaced glass, is used in stay with . everything from juice to milk, with 200 million Rausing may put his businessman’s hat on units sold every day. and look to sell the team in what is favourable Rausing became involved in F1 when back market conditions. in 2016. He was approached by fellow Swede The new cost cap, pending technical regu- Marcus Ericsson who drove for the Sauber F1 lations, fairer fi nancial redistribution, and the team that was in fi nancial diffi culties. ‘franchise’ model has made F1 teams an at- Rausing bought out owner Peter Sauber tractive proposition witnessed by the recent and chief executive ini- sale of Williams and investment in both the tially through his secretive Swiss investment McLaren and Mercedes teams. fi rm Longbow Finance SA. He later trans- There is no shortage of fellow billionaires ferred the ownership to himself. looking to own an F1 team, and let’s not forget He appointed trusted family friend Pascal the Middle East sovereign wealth funds with Picci as chairman and took no active role in chequebooks at the ready. the running of the team. Time will tell. For Rausing the investment is for pleasure, he quietly attends race weekends without any What infl uence does Finn Rausing have in F1? media attention. As a team owner, a reasonable amount, He is a regular visitor to the factory in Hin- especially as he has invested substantial wil, Switzerland, spending hours happily chat- amounts into saving and subsequently run- ting away to engineers. ning the well-respected F1 team. The team was renamed Alfa Romeo Rac- He has done this not obstinately for fi nan- ing in 2019 after a technical and commercial cial rewards but because he has a passion for partnership was signed in 2018 by the late F1 – something that can often be in short sup- boss Sergio Marchione. ply from the ‘moneymen’. The team is powered by Ferrari engines, and like the Alfa Romeo sponsorship, both deals expire in 2021. PADDOCK 61

ANTHONY BAMFORD AND FAMILY $8.2 BN 7

British - Team Sponsor iest couple”, claiming that when it comes to fl ashing the cash — glitzy (and slightly ghast- Anthony Bamford, a full given title Lord An- ly) friends, ritzy parties, lavish mansions, and thony Paul Bamford, is a former Chairman of more cars than you can count — the Bam- JCB, the famous yellow digger manufacturer. ford’s make Gatsby look positively restrained JCB was started by his father, Joseph Cyr- in 2021. il Bamford (hence the JCB name), back in 1945. Bamford may fi t the F1 lifestyle image; ad- JCB now sells into 150 countries, with the Eu- ditionally, this is not Bamford’s fi rst attempt at ropean market the largest, closely followed by gaining a British icon. As far back as in 2006, India. he tried to buy Jaguar from Ford but walked Bamford took control of the business in away when Ford insisted had to be 1975, aged 30 and set about growing it into part of the deal. the manufacturing giant it has become today. Strange as you would have thought, JCB He is a serious and phenomenally suc- and Land Rover were a good fi t, but may- cessful businessman often credited with be- be Bamford was fed up with industrial vehi- ing ahead of his time with JCB’s strategic plan- cles and wanted his hands on something more ning, their early involvement in China being exciting. a prime example. Bamford is involved in F1 Bamford is a well-known donor to the Brit- through JCB’s sponsorship of the ish Conservative party, donating, according to F1 team. Bamford was not part of the original the Electoral Commission, nearly £10m since consortium, Yew Tree Investments, which pur- 2001. chased the Force India team, but he did join A staunch Brexiter, he donated £1.3m to or- the consortium later by purchasing a stake in ganisations campaigning to leave the Europe- the Aston Martin road car company. an Union. Bamford, a confi rmed petrol head, is a To be fair to Bamford, he also generously collector of vintage , including two supports many non-political causes, including 250 GTO’s. He also once owned the 1954 the children’s charity of the NSPCC. Mercedes-Benz W196 Grand Prix car raced by the fi ve-time world champion Juan Manuel What infl uence does Lord Anthony Paul Fangio. Bamford have in F1? JCB also made the Dieselmax car, powered Well, his infl uence is limited to a non-title by two JCB engines. This was a diesel-pow- sponsorship of a mid-fi eld, albeit an ambitious ered vehicle that travelled at 328mph, a new team, but overall, his impact would be neutral. land-speed record beating the existing land- Bamford may have worked at the coalface speed record for diesel vehicles by more than since an early age, but that has not always 90 mph. been the case. In his youth, he attended Gre- Bamford owns the obligatory F1 Billion- noble University in the southeast of France, aire’s superyacht, the 204 ft $50m Virginia, where he has said he did “more skiing than and mansions in several countries. anything else”! The Daily Mail newspaper once famously dubbed Bamford and his wife Britain’s “bling- 62 PADDOCK

JOHN MALONE 8 $7.9 BN

American - Commercial Rights Shareholder he tried to purchase the series in 2014, losing out to CVC Capital Partners. John Malone is chairman and largest vot- Undeterred, he eventually took control, ing shareholder of Liberty Media, who own the purchasing F1 from CVC capital partners back commercial rights to F1. in 2017, paying $4.6bn, valuing F1 at $8bn, He was the CEO of TCI Tele-Communica- and outbidding a consortium led by Stephen tions for 24 years (1973 – 1996). AT&T pur- Ross, the Miami Dolphins owner, and the sov- chased TCI for $50bn in 1999. ereign wealth fund of Qatar. Malone built his empire by purchasing mul- He appointed Chase Carey, the former ex- tiple cable TV companies earning him the ‘Ca- ecutive vice-chairman of Rupert Murdoch’s ble Cowboy’ nickname. US Vice President Al 21st Century Fox, as Executive Chairman and Gore famously compared him to ‘Darth Vader’. CEO. His empire encompasses Sirius XM, Live Na- So began Liberty’s steep learning curve. tion, the Atlanta Braves, and Virgin Media. Malone and Carey had a vision for F1, which Malone has been in the spotlight with the re- included increased sponsorship, embracing cent merger of AT&T’s Warner Bros studio, CNN, digital media, and expanding the race calen- and HBO businesses with Malone’s Discovery dar to include “destination” venues. business, in which he holds a 28% stake. Liberty gained credit with steering F1 Keeping his options open, he also the major through the global pandemic and, against all shareholder in the FormulaE series through expectations, has kept the show on the road. his Liberty Global and Discovery businesses In an attempt to level the playing fi eld, they which invested back in 2015. have introduced a budget cap on team spend- Malone is the largest private landowner in ing and new technical regulations, with all ten the United States, possessing upwards of 2.2 teams agreeing, eventually! million acres. Criticism remains that Liberty continues to He also owns Humewood Castle in Wicklow, race in countries with poor human rights re- Ireland, as well as hotels in Dublin. cords, with the addition of Saudi Arabia to the Malone is an ardent philanthropist donat- calendar as a point in the case. ing hundreds of millions of dollars to educa- The lure for Liberty was the potential of the tional programmes. TV money, especially the untapped revenues In 1997, he established the Malone Family from streaming services. Foundation, which operates the Malone Schol- Fans have voiced opposition to the move ars Program. away from ‘free to air’ coverage. To Liberty’s Malone has a reputation as a ruthless op- defence, this shift started in Bernie Eccleston’s erator, once described as a swamp alligator, time, but Liberty has chosen the same path content to lie secreted in the mud to let the hoping the Amazons and Apple TVs of this prey come to him. world will get their sizeable chequebooks out. Malone shuns the limelight and the usu- al billionaire toys, holidaying in a luxury motor What infl uence does John Malone hold in F1? home instead. To put it in simple terms, more than anyone Malone’s fi rst involvement in F1 was when else, by a long way! PADDOCK 63

STEPHEN ROSS $7.5 BN 9

American – Circuit Promoter All is not rosy in the garden for Ross as he has split from his wife of 18 years, Kara, a Stephen Ross is an American real estate ty- jewellery designer with an impressive client coon who started in 1972 with $10,000 he bor- list that includes Michelle Obama and Oprah rowed from his mother. Winfrey. He is best known for the Time Warner Centre Fortunately for him, his fortune is not at and the ‘playground for billionaires’ The Hudson risk due to a pre-nuptial agreement that ex- Yards redevelopment project in New York. ists, limiting the settlement to between $200 He owns fi tness brands Equinox and Soul - $300m. cycle and the NFL franchise the Miami Dol- Ross is a long-time associate of Donald phins, which he purchased for $1.1bn in Trump and has donated money to both the 2008/2009, which has now a value of $2.9bn. Democratic and Republican parties through- In April, after years of local opposition, it out the years. was announced F1 had secured a deal to host Ross does not own the obligatory su- a Grand Prix around the Hard Rock stadium peryacht, unlike fellow NFL owners Daniel Sny- owned by none other than Stephen Ross. der (Washington Redskins), Shad Khan (Jack- Ross persuaded the local authorities of the sonville Jaguars), Arthur Blank (Atlanta Fal- economic benefi ts a race would bring, creating cons), and Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys). 4,000 new jobs, 35,000 local hotel bookings, Ross holds several esteemed positions at and over $400m in a positive economic impact various non-profi ts and institutions, from to the city each year. health care to arts and culture, and is an es- Ross had skirted with F1 previously when tablished philanthropist. he entered the race to buy the series from owners CVC Capital back in 2016. What infl uence does Stephen Ross Ross joined forces with Qatar through its have in F1? Qatar Sports Investment vehicle. As Liberty Media’s long-term business mod- Ross pitched he could bring promotion- el involves an increased presence in the Amer- al and marketing skills to expand the series in ican market, establishing the Miami race is a the lucrative American and Asian markets. crucial piece of the jigsaw. In the end, he could not match Liberty Me- The last word goes to Ross; after being dia, who were attempting to purchase the se- fi red from investment bank Bear Stearns he ries for a second time after previously losing claimed, “It was the best thing that happened out to CVC Capital Partners. to me.” The rumour was when Ross walked away from the table; he has got an agreement to host a race in Miami. 64 PADDOCK

CROWN PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN AL SAUD 10$6 BN

Saudi – F1 Sponsor and Circuit Promoter women’s golf, WWE, boxing, and internation- al tennis. FEI equestrian championships and the Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is the Crown Saudi horseracing Cup – you get the picture! Prince of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi population, of which 70% are un- He is currently serving as the country’s dep- der the age of 30, are passionate motorsport uty prime minister. He is also Chairman of the fans and when Formula E arrived in 2018, over Council for Economic and Development Aff airs, 40,000 people attend each of the three nights - Chairman of the Council of Political and Security a fi rst for the country. Aff airs, and Minister of Defence. In all probability, Bin Salman will go for the People describe him as the power behind the hat trick and buy an F1 team with rumours in throne of his father, King Salman. He was ap- the paddock that he made an off er to buy out pointed crown prince in June 2017. Bin Salman Gene Haas in 2019. is portrayed as a leader who wishes to reform Human rights groups have condemned the his country with social and economic reforms race. Amnesty International called Saudi’s hu- against a backdrop of alleged human rights man rights record “heinous”, and Human Rights abuses. He has ambitious plans for the country Watch has called the race an exercise in ‘sport- with his Vision 2030 program. It aims to diver- swashing’ to legitimise the country’s repressive sify the Saudi economy away from its reliance regime. on oil through investment in technology and Bin Salman owns the billionaire toys with his tourism. The cost of the project is an estimated 255-ft $62m superyacht Pegasus VIII - which fea- $40bn annually. tures a 39-ft swimming pool. In November 2017, the announcement was This yacht pales into insignifi cance with made that Saudi Arabia would start issuing tour- his ownership of Serene, the 439ft $612m su- ist visas for foreigners, beginning in 2018. peryacht he purchased from Russian vodka bil- Bin Salman’s involvement in F1 comes by de- lionaire Yuri Shefl er back in 2015. fault through the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth In what was a year he got his chequebook fund, which has assets approaching $400bn and out, he also purchased the world’s most expen- Saudi-owned oil company Aramco. sive house, the Chateau Louis XIV, in France In March 2020, Aramco became a long-term for over $300 million, although he did try to global partner of F1 alongside DHL, Emirates, hide the ownership by using shell companies in Heineken, , and Rolex. France and Luxembourg! All the talk was of opportunities to develop sustainable fuels hoping it would align Aramco What infl uence does Crown Prince Moham- with F1’s sustainability plans and gloss over the med bin Salman Al Saud have in F1? fact it is one of the world’s biggest polluters. Well, the sponsorship deal is a welcome Then in November 2020, it was announced boost to the coff ers, but the reported $50m Saudi Arabia would host a Grand Prix starting in race hosting fees distort the market to host rac- 2021 on a street circuit in Jeddah, moving in the es with the traditional European circuits unable future to a purpose-built venue. to compete. The Saudi’s see F1 and sport in general as a F1 races in many countries with poor human vehicle (excuse the pun) to advance their strate- rights records, but that doesn’t make it okay. gy for the Kingdom. Many observers feel F1 should wait and see ad- The country has hosted Formula E, the Dakar vancement in human rights by granting a race a Rally, ExtremeE, the Spanish football Supercup, ‘reward’, but sadly that train has already left the the Italian Supercup, the European Tour men’s/ station. 66 PADDOCK

DMITRY MAZEPIN 11 $4.5 BN

Russian – Sponsor er things, sports and has bought school bus- es for poor regions. In 2012 he purchased Mazepin is often described as a Russian oli- $700,000 worth of cars for large, low-income garch born in Belarus who made his fortune in families. the Russian chemical and fertilizer industries Mazepin holds a PhD in Economics. Maz- through his ownership of and pot- epin’s fi rst involvement with F1 was his at- ash fertilizer company Uralkali. tempted purchase of the Force India team These positions make him one of the most back in 2018, in which he lost to one Lawrence critical players in the Russian chemicals and Stroll. fertilizer industries, which are among the most Mazepin fought back and fi led a lawsuit important sectors in . claiming tender irregularities by the bid ad- His net worth is hard to ascertain, with esti- ministrators overseeing the team’s sale. mates ranging from $1.3 billion to $7.1 billion, He said that the team that provided a low- but he has a sizeable bank account either way! er off er won the bid, and as a result, Force In- There have been numerous scandals and dia shareholders’ interests and profi ts were investigations over the years into Mazepin’s ignored. business dealings that question his tactics and The case was heard by Mr Justice Miles in corporate governance. the High Court over seven days in November Recently, Mazepin has been in the interna- 2020, and in a lengthy judgement issued in De- tional and Russian press as he has been ac- cember, he dismissed all of Uralkali’s claims. tive in Belarusian aff airs – he proposed form- It was also rumoured that Mazepin was in- ing a committee in Belarus that would medi- terested in purchasing the Williams F1 team. ate between protesters and the Lukashenko Then in October 2020, he resurfaced with government. Uralkali becoming the title sponsor of the Some sources speculate this is part of a , resulting in the obligatory race move to take over Belaruskali, the state ferti- seat for his son Nikita. lizer company. Since then, Nikita has been in the headlines Mazepin has embarked on an aggressive Af- for all the wrong reasons! rican expansion in , , , Despite being a wealthy oligarch with ties to and several other African countries. the Kremlin, Mazepin Snr has taken great care He is now Chairman of the Russia-Zimba- to date to avoid any public scrutiny, especially bwe Business Council as part of the Kremlin’s outside Russia, where he remains almost en- eff orts to expand Russian infl uence in Africa. tirely unknown. His companies Uralchem and Uralkali have With his family’s involvement in F1, times signifi cant investments in Zimbabwe, Zambia, are changing. and Angola, aligning with the Kremlin’s strate- gy to grow its infl uence in Africa. What infl uence does Dmitry Mazepin It will be of interest to Mazepin that F1 is have in F1? closely looking at hosting a race in the African Assuming Jnr can develop into a competitive continent. driver, Mazepin will likely take the next step In the interests of balance, it is worth not- and buy out Haas, or if Gene Haas still refuses ing Mazepin is one of Russia’s most prominent to sell, he will look at the Sauber team. Either philanthropists, who supports, among oth- way, he will have a seat at the big boy’s table. PADDOCK 67

PIERO FERRARI $4.3 BN 12

Italian – Team Shareholder At the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix, he made history when he collected the constructor’s Piero Ferrari is the surviving son of Ferrari trophy, which marked the fi rst time a member founder . of the Ferrari family stood on a podium. He owns 10% of Ferrari, in which he is the Pierro remains the optimist, and at this vice-chairman, and 13.2% of luxury motor year’s Bahrain GP, he told journalist Leo Tur- yacht builder Ferretti. rini, “Now, I hope to win at least one Grand Ferrari owns the Mugello Circuit in Tuscany, Prix in the season that is about to begin in which held its fi rst F1 race in 2020, coinciding Bahrain. I don’t think I’m asking too much….” with Ferrari’s 1000th Grand Prix. Adding, “We have to use the money we Piero has worked for Ferrari since 1969, ini- spend in racing to have more spectacular rac- tially as an English translator for his father. es, competitions that the general public can Ferrari actively supports Centro Fer- understand and get excited about.” rari, a research centre for neurodegenera- This passion is further illustrated when he tive and muscular diseases named after his told motorsport.com, “Look, the discourse is late brother, who died from Duchenne muscu- broader: with the eff ects of the pandemic, it is lar dystrophy in 1956. Enzo Ferrari co-found- not possible to follow F1 except through tel- ed the centre. evision. We are racing the fastest single-seat- His billionaire toys include a private jet, hel- ers in history, but the images that come to us icopter, and the164ft superyacht called not from the TV fail to give those sensations that surprisingly race. you experience when you are on the circuit, Piero loves his boats and, in contrast to his and the perceived is the real one.” father, in the understatement of the decade, Piero said, “My dad was a car guy.” What infl uence does Piero Ferrari have in F1? Piero fi rst became directly involved in F1 in Well, the name alone opens doors, but the 1974 when he worked as a co-organiser, as- real infl uence in F1 rests with Executive Chair- sisting sporting directors Luca di Montezemo- man John Elkann. lo and Daniele Audetto. 68 PADDOCK

JAHM NAJAFI 13 $3.5 BN

Iranian/American - Team Shareholder rad commenting, “We believe that Liberty’s business plan of creating more franchise-like Najafi is the Chief Executive of the Najafi values on the teams are going to fl ow in part Companies, a private equity fi rm established from the cost cap. in 2002 and based in Phoenix. “All of these pieces of a thoughtful business He is also the vice-chairman of the National plan will ultimately create franchise values for Basketball Association’s Phoenix Suns. each teams in the sport. Interestingly Najafi invests his own money “That is our bet, to be frank. We’re betting free from outside investors and thus moves on the long-term future of Formula One.” quickly and decisively without the require- Najafi has traditionally been a low-pro- ment to make investors a quick return. fi le billionaire, but as with his McLaren invest- Najafi , who arrived in the US from Iran not ment, he has stepped into the limelight when speaking a word of English, has not forgot- in 2020, inspired by the racial injustice pro- ten his humble beginnings and is a founding tests, he formed Mission Advancement, a partner of Social Venture Partners Arizona, unique acquisition company, along with NFL a pooled, philanthropic fund that “invests” in star Colin Kaepernick. emerging non-profi t organizations. In December 2020, Najafi became in- What infl uence does Jahm Najafi have in F1? volved in F1 when he joined forces with MSP A reasonable amount as his investment into Sports Capital and UBS O’Connor LLC to in- McLaren was as much a vote of confi dence vest $248.5m into the McLaren F1 team, giving in Liberty Media’s strategy as it was for the them an initial 15% shareholding rising to 33% McLaren team. at the end of 2022. F1 needs investors committed to the me- Najafi was appointed as vice-chairman of dium-term to give its business plan a fi ghting McLaren Racing. The other vice-chair is held chance. by Bahrain investor Shaikh Mohammed bin In a bit of Hollywood razmataz that nev- Essa Al Khalifa. er goes a miss in F1, Moorad appeared in Najafi eff ectively gets two bites of the cher- and served as a technical consultant for Jerry ry as he is also a partner in MSP Sports Capital Maguire’s fi lm. which was formed in 2019 by Jeff Moorad, the Moorad was the inspiration behind the Jer- sports agent. ry Maguire character played by Tom Cruise Najafi confi rmed that he had been look- with a catchphrase suitable for F1, “Show me ing to invest in F1 for a “few years” and had the money.” considered both Force India and the Williams The last word goes to Najafi , who, on com- teams. pletion of the McLaren deal, said, “How can He and Moorad have come to the conclu- you not be an F1 fan?” sion F1 is an excellent opportunity, with Moo- PADDOCK 69

LAWRENCE STROLL $3.2 BN 14 Canadian – Team Shareholder A new £25 million state-of-the-art factory on a greenfi eld site alongside its existing Silverstone base Stroll earned his fortune in the fashion business, is currently under construction. alongside long-term partner Silas Chou the men in- As part of Stroll’s master plan in Jan 2020, Yew vested in Pierre Cardin, Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Tree, with the addition of Lord Bamford, invested Hilfi ger, and Michael Kors. £182m into the Aston Martin car company in return Tommy Hilfi ger went from $5m of sales to $3bn for a 16.7% stake. in 13 years. Success followed with clothing brand Mi- This investment led to a 10-year sponsorship deal chael Kors which was purchased for $100m and sold with the Racing Point team, which was renamed As- eight years later in a $20bn New York Stock fl oat ton Martin F1 from 2021 onwards. with Stroll banking an estimated £1bn +. Behind the Several additional fundraising rounds in the car scenes, a charismatic man enjoys the good life with company have some notable F1 names joining the Hollywood A-Listers partying aboard his $200m su- party, including , Toto Wolff , and peryacht Faith and multiple luxury homes around Luca di Montezemolo. the world. To sell the sponsorship deal, Stroll convinced the Stroll lives the billionaire’s life witnessed by his other shareholders that, “The global spotlight of For- lavish 60th birthday party at Villa Lysis in Capri with mula 1 is second to none, and we will leverage this 250 guests back in 2019. He has homes in Geneva, reach to showcase the Aston Martin brand in our key London, Quebec, and the Caribbean island of Mus- markets. tique. He owns a $220m collection of vintage Fer- “It gives us the chance to meet and greet our cus- raris, with the jewel in the crown being the $25m ex- tomers at 22 locations (F1 races), to show them our Mark Donohue/Roger Penske Ferrari 512m. new models, and get them to experience what a In the 1990s, he reportedly outraged neighbours weekend’s like for the world of Aston Martin.” in the posh Westmount section of Montreal by blast- Many fi nancial analysts feel Stroll has his work cut ing rock to make room for an underground garage to out to turn around the Aston Martin car company house the collection. which went bust seven times in its history. Still, Stroll Alas, the collection has been put up for sale as commands confi dence with Matthias Schmidt, an in- Stroll now wants to purchase a pack of Aston Mar- dependent automotive analyst in Berlin, comment- tins, claiming, “cars are my passion, a huge part of ing, “Perhaps a touch of irrational mad passion with my life, and Aston Martin has always had a special a large wallet isn’t as crazy as it sounds.” place in my heart.” Stroll is seen in the paddock at race weekends but In August 2020, Stroll sold his superyacht to no rarely gives interviews except the notable scary, “we other than one wait for it … Michael Latifi ! did nothing wrong” piece to the camera back at the Stroll fi rst became involved in F1 back in the nine- British GP in August 2020. ties when he considered buying the team. Stroll is known for his integrity and demanding In 2017 he paid for his son Lance’s seat at the Wil- but fair negotiations, so it was no surprise he broke liams F1 team and an extensive private testing pro- cover after allegations of cheating by the F1 team to gramme, with the bill coming in at a staggering defend his reputation. $80m. Then in 2018, he put together his consortium Yew Tree Investments to purchase the Force India F1 What infl uence does Lawrence Stroll have in F1? team renaming it Racing Point Force India. In 2019 Given that he owns a team and is investing heavily the team was renamed Racing Point, with Lance join- in the sport, his infl uence is considerable. ing as a driver to compete alongside Sergio Perez. More importantly, he is a very well-connected in- Are you confused about the name? Well, you are dividual with strong links to many so-called power not alone. Kimi Raikkonen at the 2019 practice session brokers in the paddock. in Monaco ranted over the radio, “I have that Force In- Let us not forget he may have his sights on even- dia or whatever the f*ck it’s called blocking me.” tually buying the sport from Liberty Media! 70 PADDOCK

JOHN DEJORIA 15$2.7 BN

American – Circuit Promoter with our good friend, the entertainer Cher. “We were in Monaco, and Michael Schu- John DeJoria is to many an inspiration; he macher won that year. I will never forget that started his business career selling Christmas experience, and I’ve been in love with For- cards door to door aged nine and as a young mula 1 ever since. When I learned about the man went into business when homeless and chance to bring F1 to Texas through a facility living in his car. like Circuit of The Americas, I couldn’t wait to DeJoria is co-founder of the hair care prod- be involved.” ucts business John Paul Mitchell Systems and An active environmentalist DeJoria helped founder of tequila maker The Patron Spirits ensure the CoTA’s were committed to sustain- Company, in which he sold his stake in 2018 to ability in the construction and operation of its Bacardi in a deal worth $5.1bn. venue. DeJoria is a philanthropist and supports He further became involved in F1 after the numerous organisations, including Mobile ROKiT group, which he founded with Jona- Loaves & Fishes, Food4Africa, Mineseeker, and than Kendrick, sponsored the Williams team Blazer House. in 2019 before an acrimoniously falling out in He may not own the obligatory superyacht, 2020. but he does have a ship named after him. ROKiT sponsors various teams across mo- The M/V John Paul DeJoria is a 110-foot Is- tor racing, including the FormulaE Venturi Rac- land-class fast patrol boat launched by the Sea ing team. Shepherd Conservation Society, the direct-ac- DeJoria also sponsors the American Le tion marine conservation non-profi t, to recog- Mans Series through his Patron Spirits nise his environmental campaigning. business. The vessel was christened surprise, surprise His daughter Alexis has been a competitive with a bottle of Patron Spirits tequila. drag racer since 2005. He does own an unusual billionaire toy in the Patrón Tequila Express, a historic private What infl uence does DeJoria have in F1? railroad car built in 1927. He purchased it in Well, it is limited, but he may well hold Lib- 1996and spent $2m to renovate it. erty Media’s feet to the fi re when it comes to DeJoria is a signatory to the Giving Pledge, a sustainability. campaign to encourage billionaires to donate their wealth to charity. DeJoria became involved in F1 initially through his investment in the Circuit of the Americas circuit in Texas. DeJoria explains, “My wife, Eloise, and I at- tended our fi rst Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1995 72 PADDOCK

MICHAEL LATIFI 16 $2.5 BN

Iranian/Canadian – ing rounds, he is looking at the shareholding Team Shareholder - Sponsor being eff ectively written off altogether. Then we come to Williams, where Latifi Michael Latifi is the owner, Chairman, and started sponsoring the team in 2019, securing CEO of Sofi na Foods, one of Canada’s largest the reserve driver role for his son Nicholas. food groups comprising nine diff erent brands. In 2020 the value of the deal was increased The group has the grand vision to ‘be the with the obligatory race seat handed to most successful food company in the world’, Nicholas. although I am not sure the powers to be at Williams had a challenging time fi nancial- Nestle will have sleepless nights just yet! ly. In April 2020, Latifi came to the team’s res- In 2007 Latifi established the Sofi na foun- cue during the pandemic with an extension dation supporting causes relating to children’s of his $62m line of credit with a loan of $22m issues. through his Latrus Racing company. In August 2020, he purchased the 317ft The loan was secured against the team’s $200m superyacht Faith complete with cine- headquarters, its race entry, and much of its ma, spa, and swimming pool from fellow Ca- fl eet of historic F1 cars. nadian F1 billionaire Lawrence Stroll. We believe Latifi was lining up a bid to buy Latifi fi rst became involved in F1 back in the team, which was put up for sale in May, 2018 when through his investment company but in August, the team was sold to American Nidala (BVI), he purchased 10% of McLaren for investment fund Dorilton Capital with Latifi ’s $260m. loan being repaid in full. In 2018 Latifi said, “I have been an admirer Sofi na foods have continued their sponsor- of the McLaren brand and its businesses for ship of Williams. There is no surprise Nicho- some time. las retained his drive for 2021, but the future “McLaren is a unique organisation in au- remains uncertain for the Canadian and his tomotive, racing, and technology with excit- father. ing long-term growth prospects, which is why I have made this investment.” What infl uence does Michael Latifi What had prompted this response was not hold in F1? so much CEO Zak Brown’s vision but the part Well, as a sponsor to a team sadly trailing at fl otation of Ferrari in 2015, which had placed a the back end of the grid, tiny, but this could all valuation of $52bn on the prancing horses. change if he decides to ‘aka stroll and a con- Latifi calculated McLaren could start to em- sortium’ purchase a team to ensure his son’s ulate the Italian company, and he thought he career continues – the most likely target be- was investing at the start of something big. ing Sauber. Alas, in 2021, his 10% shareholding has been diluted to 6%, and after further fundrais- PADDOCK 73

JOHN ELKANN $2.1 BN 17

American/Italian – Team Shareholder “This painful reality, both for ourselves and our fans, is that we must restart with humility, John Elkann is the grandson of the late Ital- focusing on what will make us competitive and ian industrialist Gianni , the principal ultimately lead to winning. shareholder in Fiat. “Today, Gianni would be disappointed as all Elkann was born in New York and educat- we Ferrari fans are. ed in England, Brazil, France, and Italy, leaving “But I am optimistic because we have two him fl uent in four languages. young drivers: they are not ‘used to winning’, Elkann is the chairman and CEO of , the but they have a great desire to ‘train to win’ holding company of the , which with their humility and determination. They owns stakes in Ferrari and Italian auto mak- are infecting the whole team with this.” er Fiat. Elkann is a clever and talented business- Elkann took charge in 2004 after the death man credited with turning around the for- a year earlier of his grandfather Gianni. tunes of Fiat when the company was in trou- He has been instrumental in the merger ble due to the unreliability of its vehicles. this year of Fiat and the PSA group to The Tifosi must be praying for history to re- create Stellantis, which he chairs. peat itself. Exor owns the Italian football team Juventus and media organizations, including The Econo- What infl uence does John Elkmann mist and several leading Italian newspapers. hold in F1? In July 2018, he was appointed chairman of There is a widely held view F1 needs Ferra- Ferrari after the late left ri, something Bernie Ecclestone was a fi rm be- due to health issues. liever in. It led to Ferrari’s bonus payments In December 2020, Elkann became Execu- and a right of veto in decision-making. tive Chairman and temporary CEO after the With Liberty Media, the balance may have departure of Louis Camilleri. altered as it is clear Ferrari needs F1. In June 2012 Italian Benedetto Vigna was In Ferrari’s own words, “Formula 1 Racing appointed Ferrari CEO. allows us to promote and market our brand An interesting fact is Elkann is believed not and technology to a global audience without to be that interested in motor racing, prefer- resorting to traditional advertising activities, ring the world of competitive yacht races. therefore preserving the aura of exclusivity He has competed in multiple transoce- around our brand and limiting the marketing anic yacht races with racing yachts made by costs that we, as a company operating in the . luxury space, would otherwise incur.” His involvement in F1 comes naturally This ‘strong marketing advantage in the lux- through the Ferrari F1 team, where he has, ury performance car market’ is working with amongst other decisions, appointed Mattia the new Ferrari 812 Competizione A already Binotto as team principal and fi red Sebastian selling out its production run of 1598 cars at Vettel. $600,000 a pop. All is not well in the Ferrari camp, with It is worth remembering Ferrari benefi ts Elkmann telling investors, “Our 2020 Formula from R&D by the F1 team to enhance their 1 results reminded us that a great past doesn’t road cars and speed up development. equate to a great present or future. 74 PADDOCK

SYLVAN ADAMS 18 $1.7 BN

Canadian/Israeli – Driver Backer Bahrain-Mérida team and the United Arab Emir- ates team. Sylvan Adams is the son of Quebec real es- Adams became involved in F1 when in 2020, tate tycoon Marcel Adams a Holocaust-era he fi nanced French – Israeli Roy Nissany as Wil- forced labour camp escapee who died at the liams F1 test driver for the 2021 season. age of 100. Adams does not lack ambition telling Mot- Adams made his fortune continuing in his fa- orSport, “The ultimate goal is to win a drivers’ ther’s footsteps in Canada before emigrating to championship, Roy is a winner – why should we Israel in 2015. set our bar lower than that?” Again, following his father, he is a keen phi- When Nissany was signed for Williams, Ad- lanthropist establishing the Margaret and Syl- ams commented, “The idea of seeing the Israe- van Adams Family Foundation to support ed- li fl ag on the car and Roy being beamed to 350m ucational and medical projects in Israel and to 400m television viewers every couple of Canada. weeks is going to be quite something. Adams, when in his 40’s discovered a passion “My projects are reaching over the media for cycling resulting in him becoming a world- to reach people, regular people, and just show time trial champion several times. them the country.” He co-founded the Israel cycling Academy team in 2015, now called Israel Start-Up Nation. What infl uence does Sylvan Adams hold in F1? The team competes with another F1 billion- Well, as a driver backer, very little at the mo- aire Sir Jim Ratcliff e who owns Team INEOS ment, and unlike fellow Canadian billionaires Grenadiers, but as Adams told Forbes magazine, Latifi and Stroll, he is not looking to buy a team. “We are not spending the kind of money that However, he has hinted at setting up a driver Jim Ratcliff e is putting [into cycling], but then no- academy for promising Israelis. body is.” “I look at this, and I say it’s probably prema- Adams is a man who makes things happen, ture for me to talk about academies and other and his business card reads, “self-appointed things, but certainly my track record speaks to Ambassador at large, for Israel.” wanting to develop the sports or activity I’m in- He has recently declared, “I decided that I’m volved in and to provide an opportunity for the going to devote the next chapter of my life to youth of Israel, he says. promoting Israel.” “Why shouldn’t we have an academy that Adams was the driving force behind bring- generates a pipeline of drivers leading to fur- ing the Giro d’Italia cycling race in Italy to Isra- ther success? We have this special case called el in 2018. Roy Nissany, and I’m looking at him as possi- Adams got his chequebook out, and $80m bly an aspirational fi gure for kids today who are later, the deal crystalised, and the race left Eu- looking at him.” rope for the fi rst time. He may wish to follow in his father’s foot- The cycling race was met with protests from steps one more time, telling Forbes, “There’s a “anti-Israel activists” who claimed the event Jewish proverb, ‘May you live to 120,’ so [even if “sports washed” Israel’s human rights record. I live ten years longer than my father] I’ll still be Ultimately, the race went ahead as sched- ten years short of the [biblical] ideal.” uled. Every team selected for the Giro took part, including two units of Arabic ownership, the PADDOCK 75

SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN ISA AL KHALIFA $1.4 BN 19

Bahraini – Circuit Promoter – Team Al Khalifa was appointed chairman and prin- Shareholder cipal non-ex director. It is fair to say this was the start of McLaren’s Al Khalifa was appointed as Political and Eco- downfall, and the group has been a fi nancial nomic Adviser to HRH the Crown Prince’s Court black hole with additional shareholders Michael in 2012. Latifi coming on board and rights issues worth He served as Chief Executive of the Econom- $650m in 2019/20. ic Development Board of Bahrain from 2005- By June 2020, Al Khalifa had enough and re- 2012 and was responsible for ensuring the con- fused to invest further, instead saving McLaren tinued growth and stimulation of the Bahraini with a $200m loan from the Bank of Bahrain. economy. He resigned as chairman. Al Khalifa is also deeply involved in the re- Bahrain has hosted a GP since 2004, and Al gion’s broader economic development, notably Khalifa has balanced Bahrain’s involvement in through the World Economic Forum’s Davos and both, but it’s proved a tricky road. regional forums and chairs. In 2012 McLaren was sponsored by Voda- Al Khalifa has been instrumental in Bahrain’s phone and was known as the Vodaphone continued development with the philosophy, McLaren Mercedes team. ‘Little Island with Big Ideas’. Vodaphone requested to remove their logos He is a non-executive director of Bahrain’s from the McLaren cars during the 2012 Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding Co race after human rights activists called to cancel established in 2006. the race for a second-year run. In 2007 he became involved in F1 when Astonishingly in an act of commercial suicide, Mumtalakat invested in the McLaren Group, McLaren refused. It resulted in Vodaphone ter- joining existing shareholders Daimler AG, Ron minating its sponsorship in 2013. Dennis, and the late Mansour Ojjeh. There was no way Al Khalifa would allow a Mumtalakat took a 30% stake after a pitch by boycott of a race by a sponsor, thus giving legiti- Dennis that persuaded Al Khalifa funding. It was macy to human rights criticism. required to transform McLaren into a supercar manufacturer. What infl uence does Sheikh Mohammed bin In the following years, Mumtalakat increased Isa Al Khalifa hold in F1? its shareholding to 60% as Daimler gradually Well, he eff ectively saved McLaren during the withdrew from the team. pandemic, thus keeping a fragile grid intact. Al Khalifa was committed and continued to His real infl uence is through his country’s fund the road car division, including a deal- hosting of the Grand Prix, which exerts fi nancial ership chain throughout the Middle East and pressure on the ‘traditional’ circuits to compete North Africa. with the deep pockets of a Middle Eastern sov- In 2017 Dennis and Ojjeh fell out, and with ereign wealth fund. both owning 25%, Al Khalifa had to choose one man, and that man was Ojjeh. Dennis left after 37 years but not before he had pocketed a large cheque to the tune of $385m. 76 PADDOCK

BORIS ROTENBERG 20$1.2 BN

Russian - Driver Manager In 2020, Rotenberg planned to invest in Dutch car maker Spyker that would enable the Boris Rotenberg is the Russian bank SMP company to resume producing a range of three founder, and his brother Arkady owns the SGM sportscars in 2021, namely The C8 Preliator su- Group, the largest construction company for percar, the D8 Peking-to-Paris SUV, and the b6 gas pipelines and electrical power supply lines Ventator supercar. in Russia. Hoping to emulate Ferrari, McLaren, and As- He was a close confi dant of President ton Martin with a sportscar manufacturer spon- Vladimir Putin from his childhood when both soring their F1 team, Rotenberg ambitiously men learned judo together in Leningrad (now claimed, “Our group of companies will launch St Petersburg). the Spyker brand successfully in the league of SGM Group was involved in large infrastruc- the world’s best super sports cars.” ture projects in Crimea, which after the annex- Alas, it all ended in tears with the investment ation of Crimea in 2014, led to American sanc- never materialising, and Spyker was fi ling for tions on both brothers and their assets. bankruptcy in January. The U.S. Treasury claimed that Putin had In May 2021, BR Engineering, the race car awarded the Rotenbergs billions of dollars in constructor, established by SMP Racing, re- contracts and the Sochi Olympics. leased details of their third single-seater car, EU sanctions followed but only covered the BR03, explicitly developed for the Russian property in Rome and Sardinia valued at €30m. market. As Rotenberg held Finnish citizenship due to Rotenberg may be down, but in all likeli- a previous marriage to a Finnish citizen, he by- hood, he is not out, and no doubt is planning passed the sanctions. The assets included three his next move in F1 aboard his brother’s $75m villas in Eze, Nice, and Rotenberg’s racing team superyacht ‘Rahil’. SMP Racing, which also trains drivers in Le Luc, France. Does he have any billionaire toys? SMP Racing has a host of Russian drivers on Well, unfortunately, according to Forbes Rus- its books, including ex Williams F1 driver Sergey sia, Swiss bank Credit Suisse refused to accept Sirotkin and rising star Robert Schwartzman. his loan repayments and put up for sale his Rotenberg is a confi rmed petrolhead and Bombardier Global 5000 jet, worth $25m! raced in various series from 2011 to 2014, with his most signifi cant achievement coming 2nd in What infl uence does Boris Rotenberg the 2012 - 24 hours of Barcelona race. have in F1? Rotenberg is interested in forming an Well, Liberty Media would like to expand the all-Russian F1 team using SMP racing and made number of teams on the grid after the pandem- clear his intentions back in October 2019 at ic has ended. Sporting Director the Russian Grand Prix when he said, “The commented to Russian broadcaster RT in July more you try to create in motorsport, the more 2020, “If there were interest from a Russian chance you have to fl ourish. Do we want to cre- team or any other that we thought was sustain- ate a Formula 1 team? I think the more teams able, then we would be fully open to exploring there are, the more opportunities there will be the opportunity.” for our drivers. Time will tell. “Everything is possible. The main thing is to make an eff ort. First of all, are the fi nancial considerations.” PADDOCK 77 ...>

So, there you have it, 20 billionaires “Mansour was a titan of our sport, yet worth give or take $240bn infl uencing modest, unassuming, and disarming to all what teams are on the grid, who is driv- he encountered. His easy manner, sharp ing, where they race, how the fans watch, wit, and warm humour touched all those and ultimately what direction the sport fortunate to know him. goes in, one thing is for sure, cash is king! “His love of this team was palpable for The net worth fi gures are compiled all to see, and those of us privileged to from various trusted sources, including work for McLaren will remember Man- Forbes and Bloomberg, but absolute de- sour as an impressive yet humble, hu- fi nitive net worth is not possible as is al- man, a father fi gure who showed us at ways the case. the most individual, personal level how to Omitted from the list is Gene Haas, fi ght adversity and be resilient. owner of the Haas F1 team, as it has not “He will remain in death what he was been possible to verify if he is in the bil- in life: a constant inspiration to all of us at lionaire category. McLaren and beyond. Mansour’s legacy is Billionaires not included in the list but secure. It is woven into this team and per- with some involvement in F1 include the petual. We race on as he would wish, our Yew Tree Investors, Silas Chou $2.7bn, resolve more robust than ever, with his André Desmarais $1.5bn and John McCaw memory and legacy forever in our hearts Jr $1.1bn. and minds. Sadly, missing from the list is the re- “All at McLaren Racing express their cently deceased McLaren Shareholder deepest sympathies to his entire family.” Mansour Ojjeh. Lastly, all the billionaires listed made Here is a fi tting tribute by McLaren their fortunes and then invested in F1, Racing CEO Zak Brown. but only one man made his billions “Ojjeh’s death has “devastated every- from F1. one” at the team. Of course, that is Bernie Ecclestone, a “Mansour has been etched into the formerly used car dealer turned F1 circus heart and soul of this team for nearly master worth $3.5bn. 40 years and was intrinsic to its success. So, the last word goes to Ecclestone, He was a true racer in every sense. Ul- who once said, “There are always billion- tra-competitive, determined, passionate, aires who want to spend a fortune on the and, above all, perhaps his defi ning char- glamour of F1. They spend more than acteristic: sporting. No matter the intensi- they ever believed, and then they leave. ty of the battle, Mansour always put sport But there’s always another one around fi rst. the corner.”