Michael Payne

Michael Robert Payne (born 25 March 1958) is an English and Irish marketing executive and author, for many years head of the marketing division of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and from 2012 with Formula One Group. He is the author of the 2005 book Olympic Turnaround and contributes widely to the media on sports business issues.

Payne was educated at Highgate School. A British free-style skiing champion in the 1970s, he began marketing his fellow athletes, helping them find sponsors to permit them to compete. Payne was drafted into the IOC in the 1989, having previously worked at ISL Marketing , a Swiss based marketing company that in 1982 had been appointed by the IOC to develop a global marketing program. During his 17 years with the IOC, working initially in collaboration with ISL Marketing and subsequently with Meridian Management,( a marketing company owned partly by the IOC), he contributed to the development a multi-billion dollar marketing program for the organisation, worldwide. According to media outlets, Payne is "credited with turning the Games into a financial success" through the television and marketing deals he negotiated for the Olympics during his tenure.

After the 2004 Summer Olympics, he took a position with Bernie Ecclestone, who holds the commercial rights for the Formula One brand. He remained an advisor for the IOC.

In 2005 Payne released his first book, Olympic Turnaround.

In June 2012 Payne was again hired by Formula One Group, who were said to be planning for the eventual departure of his friend Bernie Ecclestone and requiring advice on a possible IPO.