From modest beginnings as a mid-field racing driver in the 1970’s, Eddie Jordan has, in the space of 20 years, become one of Formula One’s biggest players. In what has become a big business sport, dominated by blue chip corporations and motor manufacturers, Eddie Jordan is the only entrepreneur to have successfully established an F1 team and remain its majority shareholder. His charisma, energy and love of life have made his team, Jordan Grand Prix, one of Formula One’s best loved teams.

Jordan began his career as a banker but a prolonged strike in Dublin prompted him to work in Jersey for the summer of 1970 and it was there that he first witnessed kart racing. He was instantly hooked and, having progressed through various motor sport categories (see career highlights) and winning several races and championships, he drove in the European Formula Two Championship in 1979. In 1980 Jordan made his second career switch from driver to team owner and set up his own team, Eddie Jordan Racing. As a team owner, Jordan could sell, charm, and know how to make a race team work - all the necessary ingredients which gave him almost immediate success.

Eddie Jordan Racing went on to scoop the International Formula 3000 victory with Jean Alesi in 1989 and after ten years in the lower formulae, the team made the transition to Formula One for the 1991 season, changing its name to Jordan Grand Prix. The team finished its debut year in an impressive fifth place in the World Championship and brought to the sport an energy and vibrance previously unknown. Eleven years on, Jordan Grand Prix boasts a string of victories and a place in the top echelons of the sport.

Jordan is a key player on the F1 field, negotiating contracts with major sponsors and breaking new ground by securing investment from global equity investor, Warburg, Pincus (Jordan Grand Prix was the first F1 team to gain investment from a financial institution). Undoubtedly the most charismatic F1 team owner, Jordan juggles joie de vivre with business dealings. Time away from the race track is spent at rock concerts, with friends in the music business, at soccer matches, golf tournaments or following his other racing sport - horse racing. Known for playing the drums at an impromptu rock concert or for phoning home as soon as a Grand Prix is finished to find out the football scores, Jordan’s way of combining the high life with his love of homely pleasures makes him popular with media and F1 fans alike.