Acquired · Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

Formula 1

March 2, 2026·4 hr 30 min·5 clips

How did a sport where over 100 teams went bankrupt become a professionally managed business owned by a U.S. public company?

It starts with the theme song. The hosts open in easy Acquired banter, then pull back to the spring 2026 season of Acquired and the subject at hand: Formula 1. Their setup goes back to the 1930s, with F1 treated first as dangerous racing for people who simply loved auto racing. World War II changes the cast. British Air Force veterans and British engineers push the sport toward technology, physics, and a lot of expensive tinkering. Soon F1 becomes a wealthy owner's tour through Europe, with giant bills and a brutal failure rate. More than 100 teams enter and leave, most because the money runs out. The ownership story gets almost farcical. EM.TV borrows $600 million from J.P. Morgan and Lehman Brothers, then another billion from Bayern LB, and uses the debt to exercise its option. Bernie gets paid. The bubble bursts, EM.TV misses interest payments, Leo Kirsch steps in, and Kirsch Media winds up with the F1 stake. That fix does not last. Eighteen months later, Kirsch Media goes bankrupt, so Bayern LB, J.P. Morgan, and Lehman Brothers hold 75% while Bernie and Slavica keep 25%. Bernie still acts like he runs the place. The banks try to direct him, sue for control, win in court, and then watch him tell the media the verdict means "nothing at all." CVC Capital Partners becomes the way out. Bernie has already been talking to the European private equity firm, which buys the banks out and also buys Bernie and Slavica's remaining stake. Somehow, he remains CEO. The hosts close by pointing sports-curious listeners to their other sports episodes, with the first race only a few days away.

As heard by us

A business-first F1 history about control, debt, private equity, and the long road from Bernie's empire to Liberty Media.

Acquired treats Formula 1 less as a racing story than as a long fight over control. Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal start with the sport's dangerous early roots, then follow the business as it becomes a strange asset class: teams burning cash, Bernie Ecclestone pulling value out…

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Why you'd press play

You want the high-stakes business story hiding underneath Formula 1's speed and glamour.

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