Bernie Ecclestone and WPP CEO Martin Sorrell, two of Europe’s "most well-known" businessmen, are among a "handful" of execs to have reaped a $40M payoff from the sale of Formula 1 to Liberty Media, according to Christian Sylt for the London GUARDIAN. Most of the shareholders "are not able to sell their stock during a six-month lock-up period following completion of the acquisition" but some of the management "have an exemption and they are taking advantage of it." According to a prospectus released Wednesday, seven of F1’s "key figures" are selling up to $39.9M worth of shares in Liberty, which has been renamed the Formula One Group, with the ticker FWONK. The offering is being underwritten by UBS and "the biggest seller is Ecclestone." He is selling up to 950,599 shares worth $28M, leaving him with 0.5% of the company. The second-largest package on offer is from F1 Finance Dir Duncan Llowarch, who has put $4.6M of stock up for sale. Sorrell is also one of Delta Topco’s non-exec directors and is selling $1.9M worth of his shares (GUARDIAN, 1/26).
