The battle for Formula One

The battle for who will control Formula One
has begun in London’s high court. The battle comes down to Bernie Ecclestone (pictured at right), who owns 25% of the
SLEC, Ecclestone’s Formula One Holdings (FOH) company, and three banks – JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers and Bayerishce
Landesbank – who together own 75% of the SLEC (although they reportedly have purchased three separate 25% minority
shares). The banks, who have banded as Speed Investments, claim that Ecclestone has deprived them of the right to
appoint directors to refelect their level of shareholding. Tired of the legal mumbo-jumbo and all the reading
in-between the lines? Yeah, me too. Basically, the decision of the high court will determine who controls the future of
Formule One, the banks or Bernie Ecclestone. Ecclestone, who has had a 30-year iron rule on Formula One, told Britain’s
Financial Times, “The banks don’t have any rights, I am the CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One
Administration — I own F1.” Apparently, old Bernie is pretty confident, one wonders if that smirk will still be there
when a decision comes down in a few weeks time…

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