Ecclestone prevails in $140M lawsuit over 2005 Formula One share sale

Formula One Chief Executive Officer Bernie Ecclestone could now heave a sigh of relief as the ruling over the bribery charges surrounding the controversial 2005 sale of the racing series' shares in the end favored the buyer, a UK judge said.

In his written ruling, Judge Guy Newey said German media company Constantin Medien AG did not lose out on the sale of the F1 shares to CVC Capital Partners Ltd. Ecclestone was charged for allegedly paying bribery money to German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky ensure that the private equity firm will acquire the racing series shares. Bloomberg said Gribkowsky oversaw the sale of Bayerische Landesbank's stake in F1 to CVC. Constantin Medien filed charges against Ecclestone and said that the bribery had undervalued the stake in question. Constantin Medien is the holding company of F1.

For his part in the sale, Gribkowsky was convicted for taking bribes and is currently in jail serving the remainder of his eight-and-a-half-year sentence in Germany, the news agency said.

When asked by Bloomberg about the court ruling, Ecclestone said, "I'm a bit better off financially than I could have been, that's what it was all about. (Constantin are) ambulance chasers, they sue people all the time."

Ecclestone claimed in court that he paid Gribkowsky grease money worth $40 million as a necessity to keep the banker out of his tax affairs. Nonetheless, the bribery scandal had threatened Ecclestone's control over F1 that he has run or owned since 1995, Bloomberg said. Because of the scandal, his decision-making powers had dwindled after a Munich court ordered that Ecclestone should be put to trial for criminal charges in relation to the bribery at the F1 deal.

When Bloomberg contacted the entities involved in the bribery scandal. Formula One spokesman Richard Oldworth had refused to comment on the matter. CVC executive Donald Mackenzie had been heard at a London court trial in November saying that Ecclestone will be fired if the latter was convicted of wrongdoing regarding the F1 sale. Constantin's lawyer Keith Oliver and CVC spokesman James Olley had not responded to Bloomberg's calls for immediate comment.

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Formula One Chief Executive Officer Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One, Formula One Driving

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