With the recent approval of its listing at the Singapore Stock Exchange, Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has a little window for relaxation before going full throttle to market the company’s first public listing in Asia, which has been estimated to earn some $3 billion more for the company.
With the billionaire’s trust fund allocated for his children and former wife, his children Petra and Tamara had been at the forefront of buying multi-million property deals on their own these past months.
Taking a fancy for pre-owned mansions in key cities of London and Los Angeles, the Ecclestone sisters have so far amassed some $175 million worth of properties in the last 16 months.
The 81-year-old patriarch is not at all disappointed with his daughters’ choice of investments.
"They will want to be independent and make their own money as they spend it,” Mr Ecclestone tells the Wall Street Journal. "I think it is better they make their own mistakes in the world and they'll learn quicker."
He adds that he is proud of 23-year-old Petra and 27-year-old Tamara’s real estate purchases, they made on their own and without conjuring his approval.
Global Property Guide reported in February of Petra Ecclestone’s purchase of a Hollywood mansion worth $85 million and Tamara’s $90-million place at the Kensington Palace Gardens in London that she is currently repairing to include vast underground amenities.
These days Tamara is not only busy with her Kensington abode, she is also transforming a pub acquired by her father into a home, which she thinks she can sell for $16 million.
Tamara shares with WSJ that she is very mindful of her property purchases and it is not just out of whim. She says she is always thinking of their re-sale value in the future.
She plans to sell her current living quarters in Chelsea, not very far from where she and Petra grew up as soon as she has moved in to her Kensington home in October.
Tamara’s detailed renovation at Kensington drew some ire from existing homeowners of the exclusive block as they were annoyed with the noise created by the work team comprised of 80 construction workers and 12 managers on site 5 days a week.
The Ecclestone siblings are not bothered by the attention and gossip they have recently drawn.
"I kind of feel like people [in the U.K.] want you to apologize for what you have," she tells WSJ "Petra and I are like, 'Why should we have to apologize that our father's this amazing businessman who gave us this great life?'"
The Ecclestone patriarch, who humbly began his billion-dollar business in adroit simplicity, had been critical of her daughters’ choices such as the reality show which threw Tamara into a bad light. Nonetheless, he believes they will eventually learn from their mistakes.
He even downplays the value his forthcoming IPO for Formula One in Singapore.
“It’s (the IPO) cheap compared to Facebook,” Ecclestone tells Bloomberg, referring to the social networking site that took up $16 billion last week in an IPO but is now marred with problems.
Sources: Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Forbes, Bloomberg