BRITAIN IRELAND SCOTLAND YOUNG PEOPLE WOMEN Bernie and Slavica Ecclestone RESULTS 2006 Ranking Worth Industry 13 £2,243m Motor racing The master dealmaker pulled off his finest coup last November. Ecclestone, 75, sold his remaining stake in Formula One, the group behind F1 motor racing, but remained at the helm with a new backer in the shape of CVC, the private equity giant. It had been a long game of brinkmanship, but Ecclestone has got what he wants. For five years, the ownership issue dogged the sport. The German media giant Kirch bought a 75% stake in 2000 but later went bust. Its holding was taken over by German banks and for five years they haggled with Ecclestone over those precious shares. November’s deal means that most of that stake was taken over by CVC. Ecclestone, who had retained 25%, also sold his share to CVC as part of the deal, worth about £580m in total. He immediately reinvested his money in a new parent company for F1, Alpha Prema, and will remain F1’s chief executive. There is one cloud on the horizon but the threat of disgruntled teams taking part in a rival series from 2008 appears to be receding. Last year’s deal was a triumph for the Suffolk trawler skipper’s son who began racing in 1949. An accident two years later ended his driving career but he went into team management and eventually took over the whole of F1. The modern sport, with its worldwide spectator appeal, is virtually Ecclestone’s creation and he has been quick off the starting grid to make his fortune from the television rights and spin-offs. A bond issue in 1999 and the sale of 75% of the business a year later netted him £1.9 billion. That money was transferred to Jersey-based trusts controlled by his wife, Slavica, 47, a Croatian-born former model, pictured with their daughters Petra and Tamara, right. Ecclestone has some choice assets to enjoy including a new £75m yacht, a £12m Falcon jet and his own hotel and chalet in Gstaad. Despite this wealth, he never carries a credit card and pays by cash. To his £1.9 billion of earlier proceeds, we add £193m for his Alpha Prema stake and £150m for other assets. RESULTS 2005 Ranking 11 Worth 2005: £2,323m