Bernie being Investigated

I can't see the sponsors going for a potential reduction in their TV audience, which means the teams won't support.....

Tbh it seems a bit of a non starter. Anyone would think we had a three week gap without F1 being in the news...
 
According to the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14213249) Bernie has been officially named by prosecutors of paying bribes over the sale of F1 commercial rights to CVC. This goes one step beyond him being a "person of interest" as he has been for some time, and the German authorities are effectively bringing charges against him with this announcement.

So is Bernie as corrupt as the next billionaire or is this all an innocent mistake?
 
I was thinking after I posted it how long that comparison would take to come up :)

I have to admit, having worked with people who play with that sort of money in the past, in order to get where they are they have to have an ability to not break the law, but at least see a way around or through it which others don't see. Whether Bernie broke the law in this case is possibly debatable, but you can bet your last penny that at some point he has found a way of circumventing certain legal issues...
 
Oh dear Bernie. I did wonder with the current world coup going on against Murdoch whether Ecclestone might get hit by flying shrapnal and looks like he will.

Seems to make a lot of trouble in Germany for himself doesn't he? Lets hope he doesn;t start compliment certain dictators again!

Odds on him being at the German GP this weekend?
 
They have not quite got to the point of asking for an arrest warrant for him, but I can guess he will be keeping a low profile away from the track...

I wonder if he does get arrested/convicted how this will affect F1 as we know it? With Bernie not in charge for a period of time will we see many changes, or will he still be running the show from his "holiday home"?
 
That story makes absolutely no sense as written. That source needs to get a proper writer who knows something about Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestatures law which varies from country to country.
 
I feel like I need to phone my lawyer before commenting, still...

Bernie these days is an employee. His experience, contacts and wealth mean he is still a central figure in F1, and he understands the business better than anyone else currently alive could or probably ever will, but in the position he holds he is essentially replaceable. If he's convicted of a crime, or evidence of wrongdoing is uncovered, CVC will replace him with another 'ringmaster'.
 
I don't think Bernie is only an employee. Isn't he still a reasonable sized shareholder too?

He's a shareholder in something, but exactly what is extremely hard to figure out thanks to the web of parent companies and trusts involved. I've never been able to find out who owns what proportions of the entity "F1".
 
He's a shareholder in something, but exactly what is extremely hard to figure out thanks to the web of parent companies and trusts involved...

Bambino, SLEC, Alpha Prema. I think it's now CVC Partners at 70%, JP Morgan at 20% and 'Alpha Prema' at 10%. I think Bernard Ecclestone (and family) own Alpha Prema ... but that coud be called something else now. ;) Max Mosley (remember him?) was his early legal advisor back in the 1970s and was known to be extremely intelligent (although a bit perverted too) and there's even a good chance that Ecclestone has moved some or all of his holdings to his offspring under other names. So suing him could prove useless.
 
Bambino, SLEC, Alpha Prema. I think it's now CVC Partners at 70%, JP Morgan at 20% and 'Alpha Prema' at 10%. I think Bernard Ecclestone (and family) own Alpha Prema ... but that coud be called something else now. ;)

Very good! :)

So in the very hard to imagine event of Bernie going behind bars, what would happen?
 
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