One mystery is replaced by another. Rich reverses position on dropping its Haas sponsorship. But has CEO William Story been fired? And, if so, was it before or after his tweet announcing the partnership termination?
SILVERSTONE, England—July 11th—Only hours following the announcement that British company, Rich Energy, had pulled out of a sponsorship contract with the American Haas F1 Team, a reversal of fortune occurred Thursday afternoon. Company shareholders announce full support of Haas.
Courtesy, Facebook
So what happened? It was a so-called “rogue individual” from the company (who has been replaced) tweeted a personal preference announcing the partnership’s dissolution.
The shareholders chose a conventional way to announce their news through a public statement.
“The shareholders who own the majority of Rich Energy would like to clarify certain statements that have been circulated in the media from an unauthorized source. We wholeheartedly believe in the Haas F1 Team, its performance, and the organization as a whole and we are fully committed to the current sponsorship agreement in place. We also completely believe in the product of Formula One and the platform it offers our brand. Clearly, the rogue actions of one individual have caused great embarrassment. We are in the process of legally removing the individual from all executive responsibilities. They may speak for themselves but their views are not those of the company. The incident is very regrettable; we will not be making further comment on this commercially sensitive matter and will be concluding it behind closed doors. We wish to confirm our commitment to the Haas F1 Team, Formula One and to thank the Haas F1 Team for their support and patience whilst this matter is dealt with internally.”
Courtesy: The Inside Lane
The dissolution tweet was filed under the name of Rich CEO William Storey. And it’s not the first time Story has created a stir.
Earlier in the season, Storey boasted that he wanted to beat rival competitor Red Bull, both on the track and off. In addition, Storey stated to The Sun, that the Haas entry was considered to be a “Milk Float,” and that it was damaging the brand of the Rich Energy name.
It unknown currently whether Storey has been forced out of the company. A website has reported that Story was fired prior to sending out his tweet.
