Remember the good old days when a prominent chief executive would have disappeared into obscurity after having been exposed by the newspapers? Well those good old days are gone, and Max Mosley is happy for it.

It's been a long and hard road for Max Mosley, but the embattled FIA president seems well suited for the ordeal. Mosley was caught on film partaking in what was described as a Nazi-themed S&M orgy with several prostitutes. He then survived a vote of no confidence in his leadership in the motorsport governing body, and launched a lawsuit against the News of the World, the British tabloid that broke the story. The judge returned the verdict from that lawsuit today, awarding Mosley £60,000 in exemplary damages, plus an additional estimated £1 million in expenses.

Mosley's case hinged on the right to privacy, and upon receiving the judgment (so to speak), the prototypical auto-erotic figure noted that he hoped the ruling would serve as a deterrent for other publications from pursuing "this type of invasive and salacious journalism". The moneys awarded by the court won't go into Mosley's pocket, as they're earmarked towards the road safety and environmental work undertaken by the FIA Foundation.

[Source: Autosport, Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty]

FIA President Max Mosley gets off judiciously originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.