Having reviewed some autobiographies of rock stars recently, I was given a copy of a biography of one of Britain’s richest men, with the background being Formula 1 motor racing. The book, No Angel (ISBN 978-0-571-26936-5, Faber and Faber 2012), has as a subtitle “The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone,” the owner of the F1 rights, and these days a multi billionaire, but someone who came from an impoverished background, both financially and emotionally.
Written by Tom Bower, a journalist who has written biographies on people such as Sir Richard Branson, politician Gordon Brown and media magnate Conrad Black, he is well versed in ways of extracting information from the subjects of their biographies and people around them.
Bower describes Ecclestone’s childhood, one where celebrations such as birthdays were not held. An aunt did try on his eighth birthday and Ecclestone ran away, unable to emotionally handle a public display of affection. This was to become an integral part of his character, and still evident to the present day.
By the time he was 11, Ecclestone was already looking to raise himself from penury and was doing two paper rounds before school, using some of the money to buy biscuits and buns which he then sold in the playground at a 25 percent profit. At 11 years of age, he was already a hustler.
On leaving school having failed all subjects except mathematics, he was enrolled in a polytechnic college, but rather than study he bought fountain pens to sell to the other students – at a handsome profit, naturally. Bernie Ecclestone was a natural born entrepreneur.
From fountain pens, he graduated to motorcycles and then to secondhand cars. His sales technique was very much the ‘take it or leave it’ approach, one that he still employs with such corporate giants as the Formula 1 teams, and even the FIA (the governing body of motor sport).
The book does not gloss over Ecclestone’s underhand methods, even to going through rubbish bins in boardrooms to see what notes the other side were passing amongst themselves. Max Mosley, one time boss of the FIA was even moved to remark, “Bernie, you’re not a liar but your concept of the truth is different to other peoples.”
As Ecclestone’s grip over Formula 1 racing increased, it was evident that he was outsmarting all the teams, but since he had also increased their financial return, they were willing to go along with the flow, though getting angry at times with just how much Ecclestone was creaming off the business.
Of course, if you really want top level skullduggery, the donation by Ecclestone to Tony Blair (British PM) of one million GBP, to smooth the transition of tobacco advertising from being an outright ban, to being a phased in reduction to allow tobacco sponsorship to continue. The million was followed by an 800,000 GBP “loan” each year for three years (and you think corruption is bad in Thailand?).
Bower has written a fascinating tale of a man for whom there was only one ambition – winning the deal, the money was then going to follow.
