F1 owners announce new CEO with bullish promise ahead of £3.2bn takeover plan
F1 owners announce new CEO with bullish promise ahead of £3.2bn takeover plan
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Liberty Media has announced its new chief executive who arrives with a bullish promise about the future for Formula 1 and its newest asset MotoGP. Greg Maffei had been in the role for almost 20 years but departed last December. During his tenure he oversaw Liberty's purchase of the commercial rights to the F1 World Championship, which was completed in January 2017 and cost them around £3.3billion.
It has been one of the company's biggest success stories as the sport has been in a boom period for many years now. And they hope to achieve the same thing with motorbike racing series MotoGP, which it will take over in a £3.2bn deal subject to approval from the European Commission.
Bidding to continue that upward trajectory is Derek Chang, who has been appointed as Liberty's new CEO. He will begin the role on February 1 and will become the new point of contact for F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali, who will report to Chang and two other board members in Dob Bennett and Chase Carey.
The latter is Domenicali's predecessor as F1 chief executive, having been appointed to that position in the immediate aftermath of Liberty's purchase of the sport. Carey left at the end of 2020 but returned last month to fill a board seat. Liberty hope to repeat their F1 success with MotoGP and bring a new army of fans to the motorbike racing series. But their takeover is currently on hold as the European Commission determines whether the same company owning two of the biggest global racing championships is too much of a monopoly.
