Formula One

Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One double-entity move

Sam marvels at Bernie Ecclestone, who organized ragtag 1970s Formula One into a governing body, then set up a separate company that secured all the sponsorships and kept 50% of the money before distributing the rest to teams, ending up worth $4 billion.

“Formula One was kind of ragtag in the '70s and he organized it and he formed this company. He formed a, a governing body and he was the chairman of the governing body and then B, he formed a subcompany that was responsible for getting all the sponsorships for the governing body, which would then distribute it to even teams. He was like, yeah, and that subcompany gets 50% of the money, by the way. Right. And he was, but he was that sub. So he kind of like pulled a fast one and now he's worth $4 billion.”