Billionaire Former F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone Says He’d ‘Take A Bullet’ For Putin

Topline

British billionaire and former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “first-class person” in a TV interview on Thursday, breaking rank with several other business and political leaders in the U.K. who have been critical of the Russian leader following his decision to invade neighboring Ukraine.

Bernie Ecclestone has courted controversy several time due to his vocal support for Russian … [+] President Vladimir Putin

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Key Facts

In an interview on the British TV show Good Morning Britain, Ecclestone said he would “still take a bullet” for Putin when asked if he still regarded the Russian leader as his friend.

The former F1 boss added that Putin is doing “something he believed was the right thing” and is doing it for Russia.

Ecclestone was much more derisive in his assessment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, bringing up his past as a comedian and adding that it seems “he wants to continue that profession.”

The billionaire said if Zelensky had made a “big enough effort” to speak to “sensible person” Putin, tensions between the two countries may have been resolved and agreed when asked if Zelensky could have done more to avoid this war.

When pressed about the large number of deaths caused by Putin’s invasion Ecclestone said it was not intentional and brought up examples of America’s past invasions.

Crucial Quote

After Ecclestone’s interview, Formula 1 issued a statement saying: “The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to [the] position of the modern values of our sport.”

Key Background

Thursday’s remarks are not the first time that the controversial former F1 chief has expressed positive sentiment regarding Putin or Russia. Earlier this year he criticized F1’s leadership for canceling the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, saying the move did not make sense and the cancellation would have no effect on Putin. In 2016, he had hailed the Russian President as a man who gets things done and even said Putin should be “running Europe.” Putin isn’t the only autocrat Ecclestone has expressed admiration for. In 2009 he stoked major controversy with similar comments when he said Hitler “was able to get things done” while lamenting that democracy had failed in Britain. He claimed Hitler had been persuaded to do things “I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not.”

Big Number

$3 billion. That is the total net worth of Bernie Ecclestone and his family according to Forbes’ real time tracker.

Contra

Just like Ecclestone in the West, very few billionaires and oligarchs in Russia have broken ranks with their group’s consensus on Putin and the war in Ukraine. Despite this, some Russian business tycoons like Oleg Tinkov, Alexei Mordashov, Oleg Deripaska and Mikhail Fridman have spoken up. Banking tycoon and former billionaire Oleg Tinkov has been the most vocal critic of Putin’s “crazy war” and has claimed he was forced by the Kremlin to sell his stake in Russia’s second-largest bank without any opportunity to negotiate. Others like Deripaska and Mordashov have been more measured, calling for a swift resolution of the conflict.