Ecclestone is the second biggest taxpayer in England after fraud case

Formula 1 owner Liberty Media is the world's most valuable sports empire, according to The Sunday Times. In doing so, the US rights holder of F1 retained the first spot on the list. Meanwhile, former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone rose to second place on the list of biggest taxpayers in the UK after he settled a fraud case in 2023.

Ecclestone paid back more than half a billion in taxes

Ecclestone just missed out on first place in the list of the UK's biggest taxpayers in 2023. The former F1 owner and Formula One Group founder settled a large fraud case last year. The case related to a trust fund in Singapore, which held almost €470 million in 2015 and on which no tax was allegedly paid.

As a result, Ecclestone paid over £652 million to the UK exchequer. This put him just behind Russian-born financial trader Alex Gerko, who topped the list with almost £664 million in taxes paid.

Robert Watts, who compiled the list, notes, "Bernie Ecclestone, who contributed £652.6 million this year, was a one-off victory for the public finances. Without that payment, total tax revenue this year would have been lower than last year."

Liberty Media tops list

Although the value of Liberty Media's sports properties has declined, partly due to the spilt-off of the MLB (baseball) team, the Atlanta Braves, the US company, retains first place in the list of most valuable sports empires with a value of $18.22 billion.