Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund that Started LIV Golf Tour Targeting Formula 1

• Media reports are suggesting that Saudi Arabia, through its Public Investment Fund, has attempted to buy Formula 1 for $20 billion.

• Liberty Media acquired Formula 1 in 2017 in a deal valued at $8 billion—once debt was taken into account.

• FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem upset some in F1 when tweeted on Monday that “as the custodians of motorsport, the FIA, as a non-profit organization, is cautious about alleged inflated price tags of $20 billion being put on F1."

Formula 1 has rebuked FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem over comments he made on his personal Twitter account concerning the championship’s value.

Ben Sulayem was reacting to a report which emerged on Bloomberg suggesting that Saudi Arabia, through its Public Investment Fund, had attempted to buy Formula 1 for $20 billion.

The FIA leased the commercial rights to Formula 1 under a 100-year lease in an agreement signed in 2001, when Bernie Ecclestone fronted the championship. Liberty Media acquired Formula 1 in 2017 in a deal valued at $8 billion—once debt was taken into account—and the championship’s presence has since grown on the global stage.

While Public Investment Fund has expanded its sports portfolio in recent years to include among others the LIV Golf Tour, English soccer team Newcastle United and a stake in Formula 1 through the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and state fuel company Aramco—a partner of Formula 1 and a title sponsor of the Aston Martin team—it is understood that it has not totally given up its bid to buy Formula 1.