Bernie Ecclestone was born in Bexleyheath, England, where he left school at the age of 16 to start his professional life as a low-level worker at the local municipal utility.
He developed a passion for motorcycles and learned to repair them self-taught. He later bought defective machines, repaired them, and sold them again, which helped him save money and eventually become a partner with Fred Compton in a motorcycle business.
Ecclestone's business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit led him to turn the business into one of the largest service and parts suppliers for foreign brands in England within a few years. He also started racing in the young Formula 1 series with Brands-Hatch, but had to withdraw from active racing after a serious accident.
In 1957, Ecclestone became the manager of Stuart Lewis-Evans, and after Lewis-Evans' fatal accident, he managed Jochen Rindt, who had a fatal accident at the 1970 Monza Grand Prix. Ecclestone then bought the Brabham team and became the founder of the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) in 1971.
In 1977, Ecclestone acquired the advertising rights on the Grand Prix circuits and in 1978, the television rights. However, the public showed little interest, and the series suffered from a decline in visitor numbers. Ecclestone responded by introducing the concept of exclusivity, which allowed wealthy guests to show off in an elite circle in the middle of the race track.
The concept worked, and Ecclestone made a fortune by acting as an intermediary between Formula 1 and marketing. He achieved his breakthrough as the manager of Formula 1 in the early 1980s and went on to win the 1983 World Championship with Nelson Piquet as the driver.
In 1985, Ecclestone married Croatian model Slavica, with whom he had two daughters. He sold his Brabham team in 1988 and became the sole marketer of all Formula 1 rights in 1997. In 2000, he sold 75% of the rights to the company EM-TV, Munich.
Ecclestone has been married three times, first to Ivy, then to Slavica, and finally to Fabiana Flosi. He has two daughters with Slavica and has been estimated to be one of the richest people in the country, with a fortune of £2.2 billion in 2014.
In 2014, Ecclestone had to appear in court in Germany, where he was accused of bribing Gerhard Gribkowsky, former board member of BayernLB, with $44 million. The proceedings were discontinued against payment of a fine of 100 million US dollars.
