appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Sarah Keenlyside

Flavio Briatore might just be one of the most well-connected and influential characters in the worlds of sports, politics and fashion you’ve never heard of.
With an estimated net worth of US$400 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, the 74-year-old Italian dates world-famous supermodels, turned Formula One into a commercial powerhouse, and has counted among his friends the late Italian former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and yes, Donald Trump.












View this post on Instagram























A post shared by Flavio Briatore (@briatoreflavio)



Recently, he’s been making headlines for reportedly rekindling his relationship with ex-wife and baby mama Elisabetta Gregoraci, a 44-year-old former Wonderbra model he separated from back in 2017.
Here’s what else you need to know …
He made his fortune thanks to Benetton

Despite flunking his exams and scraping through high school with the lowest possible grades, according to La Repubblica, Briatore managed to land a job as a stockbroker in the early 70s. It was as a result that he met Luciano Benetton, creator of the Benetton fashion brand.
In 1977, Benetton invited Briatore to help manage the brand’s franchises in America. Its footprint grew from five stores to 800 in just over 20 years, per Rush Magazine, earning Briatore a fortune.
He’s famous for transforming F1

Briatore’s partnership with Benetton continued when the fashion founder asked him to be the marketing director of his recently acquired Formula One team. Briatore agreed, but by his own admission was uninterested in motor racing, so focused on the sport’s ability to promote Benetton’s clothes instead.

Briatore not only persuaded fashion magazines to write about Formula One, he also got major companies to sponsor their team – a first at the time, per Forbes. Briatore’s savvy moves helped make stars of the likes of Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. Today he serves as executive adviser of Renault’s F1 division.
He dates supermodels

Briatore has a reputation for dating some of the world’s most famous models, and controversially once told a newspaper that “it takes the same amount of effort to get a beautiful woman as it does to get an ugly one, so you might as well have a beautiful one”.
He dated Naomi Campbell between 1998 and 2003 before moving on to Heidi Klum.

Klum fell pregnant nine months into their relationship, as reported by The Sun, and in 2004, their daughter Leni was born. The pair split soon after, and Klum’s long-term partner Seal adopted Leni. Klum and Briatore remain on good terms, and even opened a New York-based pizza restaurant together last October.

In 2008, Briatore finally settled down with 30-years-younger Wonderbra model Elisabetta Gregoraci. The pair were married in 2008 and had a son in 2010, before separating in 2017. Now reports seem to suggest they have rekindled their relationship.

He seems to attract scandal

One of Briatore’s first jobs in Italy was assistant to mafia-connected businessman Attilio Dutto, as reported by The Guardian. When Dutto was killed by a car bomb and his business went bankrupt, Briatore was implicated in his affairs and convicted on several counts of fraud, fleeing to the Virgin Islands. It was from here that he began to help Benetton in America. He was also embroiled in numerous scandals during his time with Formula One, and in 2009 was effectively banned for life by the FIA for race fixing. The ban was overturned on appeal in 2013.
He owns multiple businesses

In 2012, Forbes described Briatore as someone whose brand of entrepreneurship “thrives on ostentation, extremely conspicuous consumption and nearly unimaginable sums of wealth”. Little wonder, then, that he owns a chain of nightclubs called Billionaire and a clothing brand by the same name. He also owns the famous Cipriani restaurant in London and was a one-time owner of England’s QPR football club.

He’s known as Italy’s Donald Trump

Not only was Briatore on Italy’s version of The Apprentice, but in August 2019 he founded a political party, Il Movimento del Fare (“The Party of the Doers”). When immediate comparisons were drawn to Donald Trump, Briatore said he was “honoured”, per Essentially Sports.
“Donald has an unparalleled talent,” Briatore said. “I have known him since the 1990s and I think I was the first to take him to Europe … People identify with Donald rather than politicians who live in small talk.”


Beyond Phoebe Gates’ Phia: 5 female-owned fashion-tech apps to have on your radar

Brigitte Bardot’s personal items sell out at Paris auction

Meet Maria Sten, the Reacher star leading spin-off series Neagley

Meet Laysla De Oliveira, who plays Cruz in Taylor Sheridan’s Lioness

Fame and celebrity

Meet Flavio Briatore, ‘Italy’s Donald Trump’ and Heidi Klum’s baby daddy: the controversial centimillionaire dated Naomi Campbell, discovered F1’s Fernando Alonso, and heads a political party

Meet Flavio Briatore, “Italy’s Donald Trump” and Heidi Klum’s baby daddy. Photo: @briatoreflavio/Instagram


Flavio Briatore got rich working for the Benetton fashion brand in its early days. Photo: @briatoreflavio/Instagram

Flavio Briatore used Formula One to promote Benetton clothes. Photo: @briatoreflavio/Instagram

Flavio Briatore with drivers Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet Jr in 2008. Photo: Reuters

Flavio Briatore with his children Leni Klum and Nathan Falco, and their mothers Heidi Klum and Elisabetta Gregoraci. Photo: @briatoreflavio/Instagram

Exes Naomi Campbell and Flavio Briatore have remained friends, and are seen here in a meeting last September with the president of the Azerbaijan, regarding the Baku Grand Prix. Photo: @briatoreflavio/Instagram

Elisabetta Gregoraci had her birthday party at Flavio Briatore’s restaurant Cipriani Monte Carlo in February 2023. Photo: @briatoreflavio/Instagram

Flavio Briatore with his children Nathan Falcon and Leni Klum in August 2023. Photo: @briatoreflavio/Instagram 

Flavio Briatore was implicated in a Formula One race-fixing scandal. Photo: @briatoreflavio/Instagram

Heidi Klum (centre) with her husband Tom Kaulitz (left) and daughter Leni Klum (far right) at the opening of Klum and Flavio Briatore’s New York restaurant Crazy Pizza last October. Photo: @_gabiamc/Instagram

One of Flavio Briatore’s Billionaire nightclubs in Monte Carlo. Photo: @billionairesportingmontecarlo/Instagram

Flavio Briatore has described Donald Trump as “an unparalleled talent”. Photo: @briatoreflavio/Instagram

Who is Barron Trump’s ‘ex-girlfriend’ Maddie? The TikTokker claims Donald and Melania Trump’s son was her ‘first BF’, and went on a trip to the White House with her classmates in 2017

A TikTok user named Maddie who went to school with Donald Trump’s son Barron claims she dated him too. Photos: GC Images; @maddie_r_j/Instagram

Maddie has seen her social media followers rise since discussing her famous former classmate. Photo: @maddie_r_j/Instagram

Maddie and Barron Trump are now both teenagers at university. Photo: @maddie_r_j/Instagram 

Maddie has described Barron Trump as her “first boyfriend”. Photo: @maddie_r_j/Instagram

Barron Trump and Maddie went to the same New York school as children. Photo: @maddatitude/TikTok 

Maddie – or @Maddatitude as she’s known on TikTok – explains her trip to the White House. Photo: @maddatitude/TikTok

Maddie explained on TikTok how she got a selfie with former president Donald Trump. Photo: @maddatitude/TikTok 

Maddie and Barron Trump reportedly called time on their young romance after moving to different states. Photo: @maddie_r_j/Instagram 

Maddie has described Barron Trump as “the best”. Photo: @maddie_r_j/Instagram 

Former US president Donald Trump and his son Barron boarding Air Force One together in 2020. Photo: AFP via Getty Images/TNS

Maddie is now based between Colorado and New York. Photo: @maddie_r_j/Instagram 

Maddie in San Diego, California. Photo: @maddie_r_j/Instagram 

Thanks to her stories about Barron Trump, TikTokker Maddie has garnered over 260,000 likes on the platform. Photo: @maddie_r_j/Instagram 

Who is MSNBC host Joy Reid, who just called Florida ‘fascist’? She previously worked for Barack Obama’s campaign in the state, and has criticised Amber Rose for her support of Donald Trump at the RNC

Joy Reid, host of MSNBC’s The ReidOut. Photo: @joyannreid/Instagram

Joy Reid on set. Photo: @thereidout/Instagram

Joy Reid on her MSNBC show The ReidOut. Photo: @thereidout/Instagram

Amber Rose with Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump. Photo: @amberrose/Instagram

Joy Reid on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in February. Photo: @joyannreid/Instagram

Joy Reid appears on her MSNBC show The ReidOut. Photo: @thereidout/Instagram

Who is former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger? Once a GOP stalwart, he blasted Donald Trump for the January 6 attacks – and now a documentary reveals the impact on his family

Who is former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger? Once a GOP stalwart, he blasted Donald Trump for the January 6 attacks – and now a documentary reveals the impact on his family. Photo: @adam_kinzinger/Instagram

Adam Kinzinger, then the Republican representative from Illinois, speaks to the media outside the White House in 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

Adam Kinzinger with his wife Sofia and son Christian. Photo: @adam_kinzinger/Instagram

An official statement by Adam Kinzinger, released as moves were being made to impeach Donald Trump in 2021. Photo: @adam_kinzinger/Instagram

Adam Kinzinger in a post in October, promoting his book Renegade. Photo: @adam_kinzinger/Instagram

Adam Kinzinger and his wife Sofia at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Photo: @adam_kinzinger/Instagram

Adam Kinzinger in a post shared in May 2020. Photo: @adam_kinzinger/Instagram

Adam Kinzinger is a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard of the US Air Force. Photo: @adam_kinzinger/Instagram

Adam Kinzinger and his wife Sofia, in a post shared in January 2021. Photo: @adam_kinzinger/Instagram

The truth behind Trump-branded watches: from the US$100,000 Victory Tourbillon to the US$800 Fighter featuring the president-elect’s signature – pieces to rival a Rolex or overpriced knock-offs?

The truth behind Trump-branded watches: from the US$100,000 Victory Tourbillon to the US$800 Fighter featuring the president-elect’s signature – pieces to rival a Rolex or overpriced knock-offs? Photo: AP Photo

The Trump Fighter Presidential Mogul is listed at US$499 and limited to 500 pieces. Photo: gettrumpwatches.com

The Trump Victory Ultimate Jewel, listed at US$1,199, has a run of 1,000 pieces. Photo: gettrumpwatches.com

The Trump Crypto President watch, US$799, has sold out. Photo: gettrumpwatches.com

Meet the 4 children of Jimmy Carter – who served as US president from 1977 to 1981 and just died at the age of 100 – and his wife, the late US first lady Rosalynn Carter

Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter pictured with their four children when the late US president was governor of Georgia, in the early 1970s. Photo: @CarterLibrary/X

Former US president Jimmy Carter attends a tribute service for his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, in Atlanta, Georgia, in November 2023. Photo: Reuters

Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter on their wedding day in 1946, in Plains, Georgia. Photo: Jimmy Carter Library

Rosalynn Carter with son Jack at the Grand Canyon. Photo: @CarterLibrary/X

A 1977 portrait of then US president Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter with their four children, three daughters-in-law and two grandchildren. Photo: @CarterLibrary39/Instagram

Jimmy Carter with his daughter Amy. Photo: @CarterLibrary/X

Magazines

Style

Entertainment

Briatore appears to be rekindling his relationship with his 3-decades-younger former Wonderbra model ex-wife, hosted the Italian version of The Apprentice, and has been in trouble with the law


Briatore appears to be rekindling his relationship with his 3-decades-younger former Wonderbra model ex-wife, hosted the Italian version of The Apprentice, and has been in trouble with the law.
