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Bernie Ecclestone, the former Formula 1 chief, is reportedly seeing his wife make headlines with the purchase of a stunning £35 million mansion overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Portugal.
The well-regarded Portuguese newspaper, Correio da Manha, has called this acquisition the ‘largest private sale ever of a home’ in the nation.
Sources indicate that Fabiana Flosi, who is 46 years younger than the 95-year-old Ecclestone, has committed to purchasing this lavish estate in Quinta da Marinha, a resort locale in Cascais.
The transaction, situated approximately 15 miles west of Lisbon, Portugal’s vibrant capital, is believed to have been finalized around three months ago following six months of negotiations.
Correio da Manha identifies the previous owner of this luxurious property as Marco Galinha, a notable Portuguese entrepreneur and the founder of Grupo BEL.
The mansion’s features include a large pool, a tennis court and an internal lift.
Ecclestone married Brazilian marketing director Fabiana in August 2012 at his chalet in the exclusive resort of Gstaad in Switzerland.
He was reportedly spotted yesterday with two of his daughters at a fish restaurant in Cascais, called O Furnas do Guincho.
Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone’s wife Fabiana is said to have bought a £35million mansion in Portugal with a view over the Atlantic Ocean
The mansion’s features include a large pool, a tennis court and an internal lift, according to Portuguese daily Correio da Manha which first published the pictures
Bernie Ecclestone, 95, and Fabiana, 46, pictured in November 2013, wed in August 2012
Potential neighbours for the couple in the new Cascais home include Portugal captain and former Real Madrid and Manchester United football star Cristiano Ronaldo.
He owns a £30million mansion on Quinta da Marinha, which sits within the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.
Fabiana talked last year about how she and Ecclestone navigate parenting their five-year-old son Ace despite the pair’s age difference.
In an interview with German newspaper Bild, she said: ‘Bernie and I are a team and we’re raising Ace as a team.
‘If I’m ever a little impatient, Bernie explains to him in his usual calm and quiet way that he can only watch half an hour of TV after he’s done his homework.’
She added: ‘It’s not easy for us to explain to Ace that online, tablet, and YouTube are only available on Tuesdays, while his classmates are allowed to do so every day.
‘I think it’s a good idea for him to get his first mobile phone at 12 or 14.’
Ecclestone himself said at the same time, in an interview marking his own 95th birthday: ‘Ace is a wonderful boy. He’s bright, curious and interested in everything.’
Mr and Mrs Ecclestone are seen with son Ace at the Brazilian Grand Prix in November 2023
Ecclestone was chief executive of Formula 1 until he was replaced by Irish-American Chase Carey in 2017.
Last October it was reported he had put two of his yachts up for sale, with suggestions he was ‘clearing out his life and wealth.’
Ecclestone, worth about £2.4billion, confirmed he sold his superyacht ‘Petara’, named after his children Petra and Tamara from his second marriage to Croatian former model Slavica Radic.
He told Bild, ‘We just sold it’, while Fabiana added: ‘We only used it eight days in a year. We don’t need such a big yacht for that.’
It is not known who purchased the superyacht or for how much it eventually went for but the luxury vessel was previously valued at £17million and annual running costs were put at £1.7million.
Father-of-four Ecclestone had already cashed in on his collection of 69 super cars after selling them to Red Bull co-owner Mark Mateschitz earlier in the year.
The final price of the sale was never revealed, but estimates suggested the collection was worth £500million.
Confirming the deal at the time, Ecclestone said: ‘These are unique vehicles. They have written sport history and marked technical milestones. They embody 70 years of F1 history.
‘It means a great deal to me to know that this collection is now in the very best of hands.’
The recent sales come after a 2023 London court case in which Ecclestone admitted misleading authorities about overseas assets and paid £750million in back taxes.
Bernie Ecclestone with his daughters Petra (left) and Tamara (right) at the inaugural fundraising dinner for The Petra Stunt Foundation at London’s Corinthia Hotel in June 2017
The case ended with a 17-month suspended sentence, sparing him jail despite Ecclestone admitting he had hidden £416million from HMRC.
The court heard that the billionaire had concealed the existence of a trust in Singapore when HMRC investigators quizzed him about his tax affairs in July 2015.
Ecclestone had been asked by officers if he was a settlor or beneficiary of any trust in or outside the UK, and had answered: ‘No.’
Judge Bryan said this was a lie, as the tycoon was indeed linked to two complicated trust structures known as the Kinan trust and the Nanki trust.
Ecclestone’s lawyer Clare Montgomery said that it was never his intention to avoid paying tax and he was simply unaware of the true position of his affairs at the time.
Ecclestone left school at 16 and was running a car dealership by 21.
He entered Formula One in 1972 when he bought the Brabham team for £100,000, before using his seat on the board of the Constructors’ Association to acquire the sport’s global TV rights, which he sold in more than 100 countries.
By the early 1990s, F1 was valued at £2.5billion and Ecclestone was earning an estimated £1million each week. It was eventually sold to Liberty Media for £6.4 billion.
Bernie Ecclestone: Teenage motorbike salesman who bought race team ‘for the fare home’ and transformed F1 into a multi-billion-pound business that bestrode the world
Bernie Ecclestone at Qualifying for the 2016 British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit
Bernie Ecclestone was born in comparative poverty on October 28, 1930, in east London, but became one of Britain’s richest tycoons by transforming Formula One from a sport for car enthusiasts into a global brand producing profits of more than £1billion a year.
He left school at 15 to trade motorbike parts while employed by the Gas Board, and honed his skills by haggling over the prices of used cars with criminals.
He amassed a portfolio of luxury items including a large yacht, racehorses, fabulous houses across London and in Switzerland, and a private jet.
Ecclestone has been known to always pay in cash, and was often seen peeling off 500-euro notes from a wad. It was reported in 2014 that he had been known to carry $1million (£600,000) in cash in a plastic bag – and then leave the bag in a room by mistake.
He was been married three times, first to Ivy Bamford in 1952, then to Croatian model Slavica Radić in 1985 before their divorce in 2009 and most recently to Brazilian Fabiana Flosi in 2012.
Bernie Ecclestone with his second wife Slavica at the Meridien Beach Plaza in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on May 23, 2008
Formula One Boss British Bernie Ecclestone with then-wife Slavica (left) and daughters Tamara and Petra (right) Italian Grand Prix in Monza in September 2005
He met Fabiana in 2009 at the World Motor Sport Council in Brazil when she was working in marketing for the Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos.
It was revealed in April 2020 that she was pregnant when Ecclestone was 89 years old. The boy was born in July 2002 and they named the baby Ace, with his father saying: ‘We have a son named Ace. I am so proud.’
Fabiana added: ‘It was all so easy. The birth was over after 25 minutes. I thank God.’
Ecclestone has four children, including Tamara and Petra, who are the daughters of his second wife Slavica.
It was reported in 2014 that she was paying him £60million a year as part of their divorce settlement.