Max Mosley, racing boss who took on UK tabloids, dies at 81

A former race car driver, Mosley served as president of the international automobile federation, which governs Formula One racing, from 1993 until 2009.

He became a privacy campaigner after the News of the World newspaper ran a story in 2008 reporting, incorrectly, that he had attended a “Nazi-themed” orgy with several women.

Story continues below advertisement

Mosley, whose father was 1930s British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, successfully sued the newspaper for invasion of privacy. He acknowledged having sado-masochistic sex with five sex workers, but denied the event had a Nazi theme.

The News of the World was shut down by owner Rupert Murdoch in 2011 after the revelation that in its quest for scoops it had intercepted the voicemails of celebrities, crime victims and members of the royal family.