According to Forbes Magazine, Bernie Ecclestone’s fortune is now somewhere around $4.2 billion, up $200 million over last year. He is the fourth wealthiest Britisher alive. He’s also the CEO of Formula One Management (the world’s leading motor sport business), and has owned all or a portion of the company and its predecessors for 40 years. From what I can tell, Bernie is considered a formidable capitalist, a tough, smart businessman, with emphasis on “tough” and “smart.” (On the other hand, when asked about Danica Patrick’s entry into automobile racing as a driver, Bernie quipped, “she should be dressed in white, like all other domestic appliances.” Not smart, Bernie. Not even dumb. Stupid.) Bernie is now 77 years old and recently divorced from his Serbian wife of 25 years, Slavica Radic Ecclestone. Savica is (still) a gorgeous former Armani model 28 years younger than Bernie and about foot taller (Bernie is 5-3). Bernie and Slavica had two children together, Tamara (27) and Petra (22).
Petra Ecclestone, who has “long platinum locks and a Barbie doll figure,” is best known for her “anti-recessionista tendencies“ — which, I’ve learned, have to do with “dealing with the recession but living life to the fullest.” You get the picture. She collects Hermès Birkin bags, favors fur, Alaïa frocks and lives in a $90-million manor in the Chelsea area of London. Petra has had a lot going on lately: she was recently married, just purchased a home in Los Angeles, and is about to embark on a business career in women’s fashions (a previous venture into men’s fashions went bust).
Petra was married in August to James Stunt, her boyfriend of four years, known as “an entrepreneur and a reputed party boy.” Petra managed to spend $5 million on the wedding, the venue for which was a 15th-century Italian castle. The highlights of the event included: a $130,000 Vera Wang wedding gown, performances by Eric Clapton and Alicia Keys, and white roses from France. Petra views herself a “teetotaler,” a “homebody,” as well as a “businesswoman” (“my full-time job isn’t just blowing my parents’ money”). Nonetheless, Petra was recently seen with her friend Paris Hilton at the trendy, ultra-expensive Beacher’s Madhouse, a nightclub in Hollywood, where the New York Post reported that one evening last April Mr. Stunt spent $200,000 on Cristal (an ultra-expensive vintage champagne recently associated with rap and hip-hop culture) for their friends. So much for staying home and hanging around the house.
Even so, Petra has managed to maintain a pretty low profile in the States — until recently, when she purchased a place to live in Los Angeles for her and her husband. (They’ll spend their time alternating between LA and London.) She hit upon a mansion in the Holmby Hills section of Brentwood, a virtual palace originally designed and built by television producer Aaron Spelling and his wife Candy, and which ever since has been referred to as “Spelling Manor” or “Candyland.” Spelling, a formidable capitalist in his own right (the producer of a slew of exceptionally popular television programs, and eventually the owner of a large number of entertainment production and distribution companies) had purchased the property in 1988, demolished the existing mansion previously owned by Bing Crosby, and constructed in its place what was and still is the largest private home in Los Angeles County. Its amenities include: 57,000 square feet of living space, 123 rooms, an entire floor of closets, a kitchen in which “you can cook for two or 800,” a screening room, a gym, a bowling alley, four gift-wrapping rooms, a flower-cutting room, a beauty salon and barber shop, the usual tennis courts and swimming pool, plus four two-car garages, 16 carports and a parking lot for 100 vehicles.
At the time it was built, the architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times called it one of the region’s worst projects of the 1980s and “a sad commentary on the distorted values that have taken the architectural form of monster mansions at a time when tens of thousands of persons are homeless.”
Nonetheless, when placed on the market in 2009 the asking price was $156 million, making it the most expensive private residence in the country. Petra, however, explained that she paid “kind of half-price,” which made it “a great investment at the end of the day.” (She reportedly borrowed the purchase price from her mother.) Happy with the purchase, Petra described it as “homey and livable.” (As for the price, Petra must have taken a lesson from her father who, in 2004, sold one of his London residences in Kensington Palace Gardens for over $92 million, at the time making it the most expensive house ever sold. Bernie, however, never lived in the place. Which, of course, if you’re rich, makes it an especially cool transaction.)
Her wedding behind her and the deed in the vault, Petra recently sat back and agreed to an interview. When asked why a 22-year old woman and her husband would want to live alone in such decadence, she mentioned that she had her five miniature dogs to consider: “It’s important for them to be able to have space.”
So now, her dogs squared away and happily ensconced in Candyland, Petra will just have to make a go of her new venture into the fashion business, won’t she? (Or will she?)
Hey, is this capitalist system we’ve got something special, or what?
Petra Ecclestone, who has “long platinum locks and a Barbie doll figure,” is best known for her “anti-recessionista tendencies“ — which, I’ve learned, have to do with “dealing with the recession but living life to the fullest.” You get the picture. She collects Hermès Birkin bags, favors fur, Alaïa frocks and lives in a $90-million manor in the Chelsea area of London. Petra has had a lot going on lately: she was recently married, just purchased a home in Los Angeles, and is about to embark on a business career in women’s fashions (a previous venture into men’s fashions went bust).
Petra was married in August to James Stunt, her boyfriend of four years, known as “an entrepreneur and a reputed party boy.” Petra managed to spend $5 million on the wedding, the venue for which was a 15th-century Italian castle. The highlights of the event included: a $130,000 Vera Wang wedding gown, performances by Eric Clapton and Alicia Keys, and white roses from France. Petra views herself a “teetotaler,” a “homebody,” as well as a “businesswoman” (“my full-time job isn’t just blowing my parents’ money”). Nonetheless, Petra was recently seen with her friend Paris Hilton at the trendy, ultra-expensive Beacher’s Madhouse, a nightclub in Hollywood, where the New York Post reported that one evening last April Mr. Stunt spent $200,000 on Cristal (an ultra-expensive vintage champagne recently associated with rap and hip-hop culture) for their friends. So much for staying home and hanging around the house.
Even so, Petra has managed to maintain a pretty low profile in the States — until recently, when she purchased a place to live in Los Angeles for her and her husband. (They’ll spend their time alternating between LA and London.) She hit upon a mansion in the Holmby Hills section of Brentwood, a virtual palace originally designed and built by television producer Aaron Spelling and his wife Candy, and which ever since has been referred to as “Spelling Manor” or “Candyland.” Spelling, a formidable capitalist in his own right (the producer of a slew of exceptionally popular television programs, and eventually the owner of a large number of entertainment production and distribution companies) had purchased the property in 1988, demolished the existing mansion previously owned by Bing Crosby, and constructed in its place what was and still is the largest private home in Los Angeles County. Its amenities include: 57,000 square feet of living space, 123 rooms, an entire floor of closets, a kitchen in which “you can cook for two or 800,” a screening room, a gym, a bowling alley, four gift-wrapping rooms, a flower-cutting room, a beauty salon and barber shop, the usual tennis courts and swimming pool, plus four two-car garages, 16 carports and a parking lot for 100 vehicles.
At the time it was built, the architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times called it one of the region’s worst projects of the 1980s and “a sad commentary on the distorted values that have taken the architectural form of monster mansions at a time when tens of thousands of persons are homeless.”
Nonetheless, when placed on the market in 2009 the asking price was $156 million, making it the most expensive private residence in the country. Petra, however, explained that she paid “kind of half-price,” which made it “a great investment at the end of the day.” (She reportedly borrowed the purchase price from her mother.) Happy with the purchase, Petra described it as “homey and livable.” (As for the price, Petra must have taken a lesson from her father who, in 2004, sold one of his London residences in Kensington Palace Gardens for over $92 million, at the time making it the most expensive house ever sold. Bernie, however, never lived in the place. Which, of course, if you’re rich, makes it an especially cool transaction.)
Her wedding behind her and the deed in the vault, Petra recently sat back and agreed to an interview. When asked why a 22-year old woman and her husband would want to live alone in such decadence, she mentioned that she had her five miniature dogs to consider: “It’s important for them to be able to have space.”
So now, her dogs squared away and happily ensconced in Candyland, Petra will just have to make a go of her new venture into the fashion business, won’t she? (Or will she?)
Hey, is this capitalist system we’ve got something special, or what?
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