Bernie Ecclestone’s life revolves around controversy

Bernie Ecclestone has found himself in more hot water, forced to defend himself in the British High Court against claims he deliberately undervalued Formula 1 when its commercial rights were sold to CVC Capital Partners in 2005. The hearing is scheduled to take three days and began with a slightly bizarre entrance to the court building from the 83-year-old F1 supremo (see video below).

German media company Constantin Medien is seeking £100 million in damages from Eccelstone, claiming he sold to CVC Capital Partners in 2005 on the cheap after they had agreed to allow him to keep his “supremo” title and keep running the sport.

Constantin Medien, a former F1 shareholder, stood to benefit from massive commissions if the sport’s rights were sold for more than £1 billion. The sale price in 2005 was £830 million.

The case is related to the bribery claims Ecclestone is facing from a German court alleging he paid former BayernLB banker Gerhard Gribkowsky $44m to prevent Gribkowsky from exposing Ecclestone to British tax authorities. For his part in the transaction Gribkowsky was convicted and sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail.

[Source: The Telegraph & Yahoo Sport]