Who are Liberty Media, the owners of Formula 1?
F1 News
In late 2016, Formula 1 moved on from the ownership of Bernie Ecclestone, and American media company Liberty Media became the F1 owners. Since then, the sport has seen a great rise in popularity in a variety of different ways, mainly coming from the success of social media and Netflix's 'Drive to Survive' series, in which Liberty Media played a huge role. But who are the American company, and what else do they own? GPblog explains.
Who are Liberty Media?
Liberty Media Corporation, most commonly known as Liberty Media, is an American media company founded in 1991. As a media company, they are divided into three divisions, showing their ownership stakes in Sirius XM (an American broadcasting company specialising in radio), Live Nation Entertainment (a ticket sales manager), Formula One Group, and by the end of 2024, Dorna Sports.
Since 1991, Liberty has had ownership in many different companies, ranging from TV Sports networks, Television networks, and the baseball team Atlanta Braves. As a part of the Formula One Group that they currently own, they also own 30% of Indycar and IMSA team Meyer Shank Racing, and they have a 3% stake in the Drone Racing League
They used to be fronted by Chase Carey, who was visible at many F1 races during his time at Liberty. However, their CEO is now Greg Maffei, and he has been present at races in 2024.
Liberty Media agreed to buy the Formula One Group in late 2016 from long-time owner Bernie Ecclestone for US$4.4 billion (£3.3 billion), with the deal being finalised in January 2017 for a whopping US$4.6 billion (£3.44 billion) price fee.
Thanks to their extensive links and knowledge in the world of entertainment and social media, they helped F1 grow to have record attendances under their ownership, as well as the success of the Netflix show 'Drive to Survive', increasing the audience to new heights.
As well as their lead ownership in F1, Liberty announced the planned acquisition of Dorna Sports on 1 April 2024, buying an 86% stake in the company that owns MotoGP and Superbike World Championship (WSBK). As a result, Formula 1 and MotoGP will a part of the same mass media company when thy both enter the 2025 season.