Slavica Ecclestone (née Radić; born 2 June 1958) is a Croatian former model and the ex-wife of former Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone.[1][2]

Slavica Ecclestone
Ecclestone in 1991
Born
Slavica Radić

(1958-06-02) 2 June 1958 (age 66)
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Spouse
(m. 1985; div. 2009)
Children

Early life

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Ecclestone was born in Rijeka, where her Serb parents—Jovan "Jovo" Radić and Ljubica Malić from Maglajani and Riječani, respectively, both villages within the Laktaši municipality, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina—had settled shortly before her birth in search of expanded job opportunities.[3][4] The family soon moved back to northern Bosnia to her father's village, meaning Slavica would spend the majority of her childhood in Maglajani.[3] After her parents divorced when she was seven years old, being raised by her mother Ljubica, Slavica was taught to "not do to someone else what you wouldn't want to be done to yourself."[3]

Career

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In her early career, Slavica worked as a fashion model, modelling for a number of clients, including the designer Armani. While working on a Formula One promotional event for Armani at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix in Monza, the twenty-four-year-old model met fifty-two-year-old Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone.[5][6][7]

Bernie pursued Slavica despite the 28-year age difference, the language barrier (she spoke Serbo-Croatian and Italian, he spoke only English), and their difference in height. At 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m), Slavica was nearly a foot taller than her suitor, Ecclestone being 5 ft 2+12 in (1.588 m) tall.[8]

Personal life

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From her marriage, Slavica has two daughters, Tamara (born 1984) and Petra (born 1988).

In November 2008, Slavica filed for divorce after 23 years of marriage.[9][10][11][12] The divorce was granted on 11 March 2009.[13] She ranked 194 in The Sunday Times' Rich List after she was awarded an estimated £740 million from her divorce.[14]

In December 2019, she put her Chelsea mansion up for sale for more than £100m after daughter Tamara's home in Kensington Palace Gardens was raided and jewels worth £50m were stolen.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Forster, John, Pope, Nigel, The Political Economy of Global Sports Organisations, (citing The Economist) p. 73
  2. ^ Christopher McDougall, Stout, Glenn, The Best American Sports Writing 2014, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, p. 264
  3. ^ a b c S., M. (14 August 2009). "Život kao bombona". Novine Toronto (in Serbian).
  4. ^ Red Carpet (10 March 2008). "Video: Odakle je zapravo Slavica Ecclestone?". Dnevnik.hr (in Croatian).
  5. ^ Marko Ćustić (11 September 2003). "Goran Milić trying to extort money from Bernie Ecclestone". Nacional (weekly). Archived from the original on 26 June 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Goran Milić ucjenjuje Bernieja Ecclestonea" [Goran Milić blackmails Bernie Ecclestone]. Nacional (in Croatian) (408). 11 September 2003. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  7. ^ Edworthy, Sarah (27 October 2006). "My Sport: Tamara Ecclestone". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  8. ^ Lovell (2004) p.345
  9. ^ John Forster and Nigel Pope, The Political Economy of Global Sports Organisations, (citing The Economist) p. 73
  10. ^ "F1 Ecclestone's mother-in-law 'kidnapped'". BBC News. 26 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Bernie and Slavica Ecclestone". 27 April 2008 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  12. ^ "The 10 most expensive divorce settlements in history total over $11 billion — here's who walked away with the most". Business Insider.
  13. ^ F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's Divorce Finalized Yahoo Sports, 11 March 2009
  14. ^ "Slavica Ecclestone net worth — Sunday Times Rich List 2020". The Sunday Times. 16 May 2020.
  15. ^ Times, The Sunday. "Rich List 2020: profiles 101-199=, featuring Sir Paul McCartney and Joanne Rowling". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 17 July 2020.