Who is Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone is the president and CEO of Formula One (F1) racing.

Bernie Ecclestone became chief executive of FOCA in 1978 with Mosley as his legal advisor; together, they negotiated a series of legal issues with the FIA and Jean-Marie Balestre, culminating in Ecclestone's famous coup, his securing the right for FOCA to negotiate television contracts for the Grands Prix. For this purpose Ecclestone established Formula One Promotions and Administration, giving 47% of television revenues to teams, 30% to the FIA, and 23% to FOPA (i.e. Ecclestone himself); in return, FOPA put up the prize money - grand prix could literally be translated from French to "big prize".

Television rights shuffled between Bernie Ecclestone's companies, teams, and the FIA in the late 1990s, but Bernie Ecclestone emerged on top again in 1997 when he negotiated the present Concorde Agreement: in exchange for annual payments, he maintains the TV rights. The contract with the various teams expired on the last day of 2007, and the contract with the FIA will expire on the last day of 2012.