Outgoing Liberty Media CEO Responds To $20 Billion F1 Sale Rumors

Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, who will be stepping down from the role imminently, has quashed rumors about a potential $20 billion sale of Formula 1, which Liberty Media acquired in 2017 for $4.4 billion.

Addressing the rumors that linked Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to a possible purchase, Maffei firmly stated during an interview with CNBC:

“Look, I don’t think there’s any plan to sell it.

“It’s got a great future, but, you know, I suspect the Board of Liberty will be appropriate stewards of the shareholder capital.”

Under Liberty Media’s management, Formula 1 has experienced a transformative era marked by extensive global expansion. Since the acquisition, the sport has broadened its global connection, significantly influenced by the Netflix docuseries “Drive to Survive,” which has introduced the sport to a wider American audience and a younger demographic. Maffei celebrates these initiatives, noting:

“Oh, I think F1 is incredibly well positioned.

“Probably the company I’m proudest to have been involved because we really — Liberty bought it, helped change the strategy, brought in Chase Carey, did an amazing job.

“Stefano Domenicali has done well, but the business is very well positioned, right? You know, grown the global partnership since 2019. We’ve compounded sponsorship at 16%. We’ve compounded all the revenue streams at something like 12%.

“It’s really been a hallmark of what sports wants to be, you know, growing fan interest through things like Drive to Survive, growing sponsorship, growing high-end experiences.

“Sort of a model everyone else is a little bit trying to follow. Everyone’s done it super well.”

Maffei’s upcoming departure from his executive role aligns with the expiration of his contract at the year’s end. John Malone, Chairman of Liberty Media, will temporarily assume the CEO role. Despite stepping down, Maffei will remain connected to the company as a Senior Advisor. Commenting on his exit, Maffei explained:

“Well, I think John phrased it well, that we really accomplished the mission. We bought a series of businesses, many of which performed very well. But they were in less than the optimal structure inside of Liberty Media. So over the last year, we’ve freed the Braves as a standalone public company. Had a transition agreement there where they’re out on their own.

“We’ve taken our stake in SiriusXM through LSXM, our tracking stock, merge, spun it, re-attributed, merged it into Sirius. It’s a standalone public company now. Still Chairman of that. We have taken our stake in Charter and effectively now have a pre-agreed upon a deal to merge that in. So that’s one more piece gone. And then lastly, we announced yesterday that we were spinning out our stake in Live Nation through Liberty Live.

“So really, all of the pieces that were there of Liberty Media are all now separately. And Liberty Media is a pure play in motorsport with F1 and the pending acquisition of Dorna.”

He added:

“There will be another chapter of Liberty, but I got to declare victory on the ones that I did. And we’ve had some great deals. We’ve been very lucky. Had great management teams drive them. And it seemed like a good time to say all the table is cleaned up there. All the stage is set. And my contract was expiring at the end of the year. And I thought I’d go check out another chapter.

“I’m going to continue to be an advisor. I’m going to continue to be on a bunch of our boards, including Live Nation and Charter. But I’ve got one more act in me.”