Greg Maffei, who was until now the CEO of Liberty Media, announced that he would leave his position at the end of his current mandate, which runs until the end of the year. The American, who greatly participated in making Liberty the empire that the company has become, will therefore leave his position after 19 years of good and loyal service.
He notably participated in the acquisition of DirecTV, SiriusXM radio, but especially F1 and more recently MotoGP. He also helped announce the separation between Liberty Live Services, which handled event ticketing, and the rest of the group.
The development of Formula 1 since the takeover by Liverty Media, with regulations aimed at making it competitive and increasing its value, but also with numerous commercial partnerships and exposure on social networks and on Netflix, have enabled unprecedented development. seen in terms of popularity.
“My nearly 20 years at the helm of Liberty Media have been incredibly rewarding, challenging and endlessly eventful.” Maffei said. “Following today's announcements regarding Liberty Media and Liberty Broadband, all acquisitions Liberty has made during my tenure now have structures that allow shareholders to have a more direct stake in their businesses.”
“The company structure is optimized and the portfolio companies are in a strong position, with talented management teams in place. While it is never easy to leave an organization as dynamic as Liberty, I am confident that It’s the right time.”
“I have greatly enjoyed working alongside and learning from John, our Board of Directors, the management teams of Liberty and across the family companies, and our shareholders .”
John Malone, the president of Liberty, will take the role of director of Liberty Media on an interim basis, and was keen to salute Greg Maffei's contribution to the group since his arrival: “On behalf of the Liberty Media Board of Directors, I would like to thank Greg for his leadership, creativity and dedication.”
“Since joining in 2005, Greg has been at the forefront of Liberty's exciting life cycle evolution. He has grown our asset base and made the company better and more valuable to shareholders, while simultaneously overseeing up to five separate public companies.”
“Especially following the announcement of today's transactions, our company is simpler and more focused than ever, which is a perfect culmination to Greg's accomplished career at Liberty. I wish Greg every success in the continuation of his career and I appreciate his continued support as an advisor.”
There have been rumors of a possible sale of F1 to the Saudi Public Fund (PIF), and Maffei's departure has been put forward as a possible sign of this change. Maffei himself denied this rumor.
Other rumors in the corridors suggested that the investigation into the refusal to give a place to Andretti Global had some responsibility in Maffei's departure. Again, there seems to be no connection.
But Stefano Domenicali, F1's CEO, has been personally cited by US investigators so far, believing the Italian is “even more central in the plans of the American group” than Maffei.
Domenicali is still waiting for his contract to be renewed.
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