London: The ex-wife of Formula One billionaire Bernie Ecclestone has built a firm to manage the fortune she derived from one of the world's biggest motor-sports brands, becoming the latest super-rich woman to take more control of her wealth.
A company bearing Slavica Malic's initials was set up last year as a family office for the 65-year-old former model, filings show. Malic received one of the Britain's largest divorce settlements in 2009 after more than two decades of marriage to the longtime racing executive.
HSBC Holdings Plc veteran Fredrik Nerbrand recently joined the London-based company as chief investment officer, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The firm, which changed its name in late 2023 to Elm Cove, is also overseen by Stefan Le Marquand, a London-based trust manager at financial services company Highvern.
A representative for Malic "- who received more than Pound700 million ($881 million) from her divorce settlement "- declined to comment.
Croatia-born Malic became an important part of how Ecclestone managed his fortune, which grew rapidly during their marriage after the former Formula One chief executive officer sold off stakes to investors including private equity giant CVC Capital Partners Plc.
Malic, who met Ecclestone at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix in Monza, helped oversee a family trust the now 93-year-old entrepreneur set up that held assets worth about $5 billion a decade ago. The couple's daughters "- Tamara, 39, and Petra, 35 "- also served as trustees.
Ecclestone, who effectively controlled Formula One since the 1970s, stepped back as CEO in 2017 after John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. bought the auto-racing series for about $4.4 billion from CVC. By then, Ecclestone and Malic had been granted a divorce on the grounds of his unreasonable behaviour. He later lost a bid to keep financial details of the split private from British tax authorities as part of an investigation that was resolved in 2023.
Other women among the world's super-rich "- including Oprah Winfrey, Chinese property tycoon Wu Yajun and Canadian heiress Alannah Weston "- have built up their own family offices as their careers or personal situations evolved. In Western Europe, female investors controlled about a third of the region's assets under management at the start of the decade, and that figure is expected to grow rapidly by 2030, according to research from McKinsey.
There are 66 women among the world's 500 richest people, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with 18 in Europe. L'OrA(c)al SA heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers of France last year became the first woman to see her fortune surpass $100 billion.
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