We never really know what goes on at the top of the executive ladder. We often speculate that people are not honest, and more often than not, speculations turn out to be real.
According to
autoweek.com, F1 CEO, Bernie Ecclestone had bribed former German banker,
Gerhard Gribkowsky, in exchange for a favorable outcome when BayernLB (Bavarian state bank) sold its stake in F1 to CVC Capital Partners, back in 2006, with the latter gaining a controlling share in the series. Gerhard Gribkowsky reportedly received a colossal amount of cash, $44- (€35-) million, from Bernie Ecclestone, while he was working as a top exec for BayernLB. The payments were made in order to ensure that Mr. Gribkowsky would not share details regarding the racing series internal financial information with British authorities, which could have prompted a deeper tax investigation.
But why did such an influential man stoop so low? Well, if Mr. Gribkowsky had alerted the UK authorities, then F1 (and Ecclestone) would have had to pay a mind-boggling $3.1- (€2.4-) billion in taxes. If convicted, Bernie Ecclestone could serve up to 10 years in prison.
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