Formula One legend Eddie Jordan was a man of considerable talents. From racer to team owner to outspoken pundit, the affable Irishman could turn his hand to pretty much anything in the world of motorsport.
The biggest names in F1 responded to news of his death on Thursday with an outpouring of emotion, the 76-year-old losing his short battle with bladder and prostate cancer
Jordan revealed back in December that the disease had become ‘aggressive’ and spread to his spine, so the news of his death was not without notice.
However, it has still, of course, shaken the F1 world. He was one of the most well-known faces on the circuit, and a constant for over 30 years at the pinnacle of motorsport.
Jordan doesn’t just leave the world of F1 behind either, with his devoted wife of 46 years, Marie, and their four kids, sadly saying goodbye to the Irish icon.
With the 76-year-old reportedly leaving an incredible £463million fortune behind, owing to his vast business portfolio, Mail Sport takes a look at how Jordan made his fortune.
Eddie Jordan left behind an incredible £463million to his wife and four kids following his death
How Eddie Jordan made his millions
Jordan was somebody who took a lot of risks in life, and they almost always paid off. He was a trailblazer who never got comfortable, never stood still, and always enjoyed the twists and turns that life threw at him.
His ambition started from an early age as he contemplated which industry he wanted to go into. The public Jordan may never have come to be had he made the decision to become a priest at 15 – which he was planning on doing.
Instead, Jordan decided to go into the world of banking after taking an accountancy course. He would go on to work at the Bank of Ireland, but would soon find that it was motor racing that he had a true passion for.
After discovering go-karting while on a work trip, Jordan bought his own kart and began to practice. Soon after he became the Irish Kart champion in 1971, showcasing that it was not just a hobby for him.
In 1974 he was snatched up by Formula Ford and made it all the way to Formula 3. However, despite having a brief stint as a McLaren reserve driver, Jordan never managed to become an elite racer and would step away from the cockpit five years later.
With the ambitious persona that he possessed, he then turned to team management and launched his own organisation, Jordan Racing, in 1979.
In the first decade, his team would predominantly race in British F3 and he hired both Martin Brundle, who is now famous for his grid walks before F1 Grand Prix, and Johnny Herbert, who won the team the championship in 1987.
Jordan lauched his own racing team in 1979 before founding Jordan Grand Prix F1 in 1991
He was known as one of, if not the, mavericks of the sport while in the F1 paddock
Jordan gave seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher (right) his breakthrough at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1991. He sold his F1 team to a Russian-owned firm for £40m in 2005
Jordan was never one to be content where he was, mind, and by 1991 he had founded Jordan Grand Prix and they entered Formula One.
During his time as team boss at the pinnacle, Jordan helped launch the career of Michael Schumacher – giving him his debut at Spa – and won four races. But after 14 years at the top of the sport, Jordan sold the team to Midland Group.
The team’s best-ever result was a one-two at the Belgian Grand Prix, with Damon Hill taking the chequered flag and Ralf Schumacher crossing the line not long after.
Enjoying the finer things in life
When you have an empire like Jordan did, money comes with it. His shrewdness in the business world and negotiating prowess generated him substantial wealth.
The sale of his racing team in 2005 is one of the more significant deals he was involved in. The money he received from the Russian-owned investment firm was in the region of $50million (£40m).
This deal, and his business shrewdness, allowed Jordan to indulge in one biggest passions in life, outside of racing, sailing and yachting.
As a teenager, Jordan competed on board an International 420 Class Dinghy in the Irish Championships, but when his racing team started making the businessman serious money, he switched to motor yachts, buying his first Sunseeker in 1986.
Jordan owned the biggest Sunseeker yacht ever built which set him back a hefty £32 million
Jordan owned a Sunseeker every year between 1986 and 2017 – with his former yacht ‘The Snapper’ pictured here
His boats had typically lavish interiors (another pictured here) including multiple state rooms and features like hot tubs
In 2014, Jordan purchased one of the largest yachts on the market, a Sunseeker 155 called ‘Blush’ for £32m.
The behemoth was named for its length – 155 feet – and came with a private nightclub, multiple dining rooms, hot tubs, and a parking garage for jet skis.
But just three years later, Jordan sold the mega-vessel, citing his inability to make time to go aboard, and his five grandchildren. The mogul then purchased a Perini Navi sailing yacht, also named Blush, which he owned until December 2024.
Despite his taste for lavish vessels, Jordan revealed in an interview that it was the connection to the sea that sailing gave him that he enjoyed the most, with the former team owner also owning a number of Oyster sailing yachts, including an Oyster 885, for racing.
‘Sailing is where I came from and when I left motor racing, sailing is one of the things I actually wanted to do,’ Jordan said. ‘I wanted to sail around the world and be a circumnavigator.
‘That doesn’t mean I’m blase about motor boats, though. A motor boat satisfies all my needs. Particularly when I was still motor racing, for example, because I needed to be sure I could be back in time to head off to a race or a meeting.
‘Sailing is a completely different concept. You get in and time instantly becomes less of a factor.’
Jordan the media maverick
After taking a step back from the running of an F1 team, Jordan was unable to leave the world fully, taking on a role as a pundit with a number of different broadcasters over the years including BBC and Channel 4.
In his later years Jordan went into broadcasting and was known for his strong opinions
Jordan was even a presenter of Top Gear (second right) after the show’s relaunch in 2016
Jordan went on to create a podcast with former Formula One driver David Coulthard (centre)
Another, even more high profile role followed, as Jordan joined the Top Gear presenting line-up in 2016.
Jordan and his former broadcasting sparring partner David Coulthard started an F1-centric podcast in 2023, Formula For Success, with their final episode together shared poignantly less than 24 hours before Jordan’s death was announced.
More behind the scenes roles have included working with former Red Bull master designer Adrian Newey, with the Irishman have worked as Newey’s agent to help him negotiate his seismic £20m move to Aston Martin last year.
Jordan also led a consortium in February in the takeover of rugby club London Irish.
Other business ventures in his third act have included a share in a Bulgarian real estate development group, vodka brand Vodka V10, and energy drink label EJ-10.
Life and soul of the party
A keen drummer since his teams, Jordan’s band V10 – later renamed Eddie & The Robbers – was a frequent fixture on the Formula One circuit.
‘Music was a very important part of my life,’ Jordan said in an interview with Hot Press. ‘Rock ‘n’ roll has given me a great outlet.
He was also a rock-and-roll lover and played the drums in his own band Eddie & The Robbers
‘I’ve always had a little band of some description. I was never a great drummer but I was a reasonable drummer and my tempo was always good, so that’s why I was able to play.’
Eddie & The Robbers have played gigs in as varied locations as Monaco, the Isle of Wight Festival, and Singapore, and released a charity single in 2009 in aid of children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent.
Jordan has performed alongside music legends including Bryan Adams, Roger Daltry, and Roger Taylor – and more under the radar artists such as Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher.
Devoted family man
Jordan was most-certainly a family man and he cherished his role as both a husband and a father.
He married Marie Jordan – a former Irish international basketball player – in 1983 and they had four children together: Zoe, Miki, Zak, and Kyle.
His eldest Zoe is known to be a successful fashion designer, while Miki works in sports event management. Zak both teaches snowboarding and competes in the sport too, and the youngest Kyle founded his own sustainable cleaning products company.
With Jordan being in the limelight for much of his life, he tried to keep his family life as private as possible, protecting his loved ones.
Jordan was married to Marie, a former Ireland international basketball player, for 42 years
The pair had four children together: Zoe, Miki, Zak (not pictured here, in 2005), and Kyle
Jordan shared a picture of himself and Marie attending a wedding last year with their sons Zak (left) and Kyle (right)
But in an interview in the wake of the first F1 race of his career, Jordan admitted that his family were very ‘precious’ to him, and ‘kept him sane’.
Eddie and Marie owned three houses together, including a Kensington townhouse in London, a base in Monaco, and a property in Cape Town.
A statement from his family confirming his death read: ‘EJ brought an abundance of charisma, energy and Irish charm everywhere he went. We all have a huge hole missing without his presence.
‘He will be missed by so many people, but he leaves us with tonnes of great memories to keep us smiling through our sorrow.’
