Ecclestone: "I like this capitalist system"

gorthar · 08-06-2014, 11:22 AM

Gotta love him. Probably knew he'd beat the rap all long. No bribe that can't be overcome with yet another bribe...or as his attorney's and the prosecution attorney's no doubt see it: everybody wins!

Ecclestone hails capitalist court settlement > F1 News > Grandprix.com

Quote:

Bernie Ecclestone on Wednesday hailed the "capitalist system" that saw him escape a bribery trial by paying the German court a record $100 million settlement.

On Tuesday, the judge in Munich rubber-stamped the deal struck between the F1 supremo's lawyers and the prosecutors in the case surrounding a $44 million bribe made years ago to jailed Gerhard Gribkowsky.

Clearly, the fact a figure like billionaire Briton Ecclestone was able to cling to power in F1 and avoid jail simply by dipping into his vast fortune has been highly controversial.

The 83-year-old is unapologetic.

"It's certainly a bit unfortunate to pay so much money," he told Wednesday's edition of the German tabloid Bild, "but it would be worse to not have the money.

"I like this capitalist system," he added.

URY914 · 08-06-2014, 11:28 AM

He won't even miss the $100M.

rusnak · 08-06-2014, 12:55 PM

Good for him. He doesn't have to apologize for anything, after paying the $100M and seeing that the prosecution had no case. The German government decided to take the money and run.

gorthar · 08-06-2014, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rusnak

Good for him. He doesn't have to apologize for anything, after paying the $100M and seeing that the prosecution had no case. The German government decided to take the money and run.

Exactly. Everybody wins.

legion · 08-08-2014, 05:09 PM

Ironic, because he is a rent-seeking bastard. Too many F1 races take place are government-financed ego trips with thin crowds.

DanielDudley · 08-09-2014, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gorthar

Exactly. Everybody wins.

Except F1 fans.

mjohnson · mjohnson's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

Ironic, because he is a rent-seeking bastard. Too many F1 races take place are government-financed ego trips with thin crowds.

I love how carefully controlled the camera angles are on some of those races. It's like they (might) do everything possible to avoid showing the empty seats.

Or they are focusing on giving us the best possible TV feed of the action. Because they love the sport...

nota · 08-09-2014, 04:31 AM

burnie is a well dressed thief
he stole F-1 from the teams and tracks
while the teams get about 1/2 the take
the tracks got screwed even worse
as the tv rights banner ads concessions and insane fees all go to burnie
with no cash back to the sites who provide the ''SHOW''

AND 1/2 OF ALL CASH GOING TO BURNIE AND CVC
for very little effort or expense on their part
he is just a capitalist PIG WHO TOOK OVER F-1

Iciclehead · 08-09-2014, 05:26 AM

Bernie is the perfect ammunition for those who believe that anyone who makes over minimum wage is a thief and scoundrel. For probably the whole of recorded human history, I am actually going to agree with Nota, he is a Pig and miserable excuse for a human being.

Human offal.

Dennis

rusnak · 08-09-2014, 08:09 AM

Sorry you guys are so emotional and uninformed. Bernie does not run F1. He runs the company that owns the commercial rights. The tech regs and F1 rules are decided by the FIA. That organization is who you can blame if you don't like the way F1 is run.

stealthn · 08-09-2014, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rusnak

Sorry you guys are so emotional and uninformed. Bernie does not run F1. He runs the company that owns the commercial rights. The tech regs and F1 rules are decided by the FIA. That organization is who you can blame if you don't like the way F1 is run.

Riiiiiiight and he has no say....

rusnak · 08-09-2014, 08:43 AM

The profits and losses, and rights to charge for advertising and media coverage are his main areas of influence. Since he can decide which venues get races, he has had enormous influence over the quality of the show by raising the standard for track facilities, spectator seating, paddock and garage areas, etc. He can almost singlehandedly be credited for creating the "old" F1 that we enjoyed. New F1 is the result of bureaucratic involvement by the FIA, which does not care about fans. It cares about making a new age greenie Euro statement.

Flieger · Flieger's Garage

When Bernie bought the TV rights back around 1976 he had offered the teams to chip in and have a share, but no one wanted to put money in. They just thought about how much testing they could do with that money. I think it was around 10 grand he was asking each. But no one wanted, so he bought them all himself.

While I don't particularly like him, he is a crafty businessman.

nota · 08-09-2014, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rusnak

The profits and losses, and rights to charge for advertising and media coverage are his main areas of influence. Since he can decide which venues get races, he has had enormous influence over the quality of the show by raising the standard for track facilities, spectator seating, paddock and garage areas, etc. He can almost singlehandedly be credited for creating the "old" F1 that we enjoyed. New F1 is the result of bureaucratic involvement by the FIA, which does not care about fans. It cares about making a new age greenie Euro statement.

he is a PIG who grabbed cash from tv, track side ads, and concessions
and has done very very little for the avg fan EXCEPT RAISE TICKET PRICES
most of his forced up grades are for the very few 1%ers who get in free to the pit/paddock area that real fans are banned from

the avg fan gets NOTHING from burnie
he does not force up-grades for grandstands or other facility's
just for the restricted 1%er areas the avg fan can't ever buy access to
the tracks get nothing but pay him way too much
he has ended racing in countrys like france with day 1 f-1 history
to move to china or S korea for big bucks for burnie

btw did you know there are no direct driver prizes[cash]
not for winning a race or even the WDC just the team end of year payments of 1/2 the tv income

burnie should get an agent/managers 10% NOT 50%++++ he steals
he had no investment or risk just steals thru connections and deals

Iciclehead · 08-09-2014, 10:48 AM

To quote Bernie after his court settlement this week....and to put away any doubt who has been running F1 to private advantage....

"Anyway, it's done and finished, so it's all right. I'm content - it's all fine. This now allows me to do what I do best, which is running F1."

Dennis

shoemakj · 08-10-2014, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flieger

When Bernie bought the TV rights back around 1976 he had offered the teams to chip in and have a share, but no one wanted to put money in. They just thought about how much testing they could do with that money. I think it was around 10 grand he was asking each. But no one wanted, so he bought them all himself.

While I don't particularly like him, he is a crafty businessman.

Was watching the F1 documentary "1" last week where Bernie related this story. He was a team owner then and offered the other 9 teams an equal share for $100K each. No one took him up on it.

I don't particularly like what F1 has become today, especially after listening to the cars in the opening scene where they show some footage of 1996 Melbourne race. I'd already forgotten how amazing they used to sound!

As far as I can tell nobody is being forced at gunpoint to race F1. Even with Bernie raking in cash by the shipload, the teams apparently think there's enough money at stake to keep at it. Either that or they think they can outlast him. At 83, he's not likely to be around much longer.