Betty Klimenko
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Betty Ann Saunders-Klimenko (born 1959) is an Australian businessperson and motorsport team owner who runs the
Erebus Motorsport Erebus Motorsport (formerly known as Erebus Racing) is an Australian motor racing team. The team competes in the Supercars Championship with two Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s. The team's current drivers are Jack ...
squad in the
Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...
. In 2017, she became the first female team owner to win the
Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...
. Klimenko is a promoter of women in motorsport and is a global ambassador for the Australian arm of the Dare to be Different initiative.


Early life

Klimenko was the illegitimate child born to a police officer who served in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and the prostitute and former Miss West Australia Anne Neil in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
in 1959. She has three biological siblings. She was conceived drug-addicted in Kings Cross Police Station's Cell 3, and was abandoned at the adoption nursery of the former
Crown Street Women's Hospital Crown Street Women's Hospital (now-closed) was once the largest maternity hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was located at 351 Crown Street on the corner of Albion Streets, Surry Hills. The hospital was one of several stand- ...
by her biological parents at seven weeks old. She has little knowledge of her biological mother, who died when Klimenko was aged five, and never met her parents. Klimenko was adopted by the Hungarian-Jewish,
Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...
co-founder and
Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
survivor John Saunders and his wife Eta. Klimenko was born a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and was raised as
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
(although never converted). She has a younger adopted brother, and was raised by
nannies A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...
, due to Saunders' work commitments. Klimenko attended a
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
school.


Career

At age 13, Klimenko began working for Saunders as a cleaner in the toilets and kitchens of his shopping centres every Saturday for half a decade. She also worked as a Santa's little helper in shopping centres before becoming the first female employee in the men's jeans department at
Grace Bros Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. It was bought by Myer (later Coles Myer) in 1983. There were 25 stores across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory plus a few in Victoria, until they wer ...
. Saunders cut Kilmenko off from his life following her second marriage to a non-Jewish man in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
and she had to assume a working-class life in the suburb of
Matraville Matraville is located in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately by road south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick. History M ...
, Sydney living on her husband's income. Saunders and she reconciled after Klimenko gave birth to her son and subsequently received a share of her adoptive fathers' fortune, following his death in 1997. She is joint deputy chairperson of the family-owned property development company Terrace Tower Group with her sister. In 1999, Klimenko developed an interest for motor racing when her husband took her to a Porsche driving experience as a spectator. Working with her husband, she participated in amateur and semi-professional forms of motor racing, primarily Formula 3 and GT racing as a sponsor for 14 years. She also fielded a squad of SLS Mercedes GT cars in the GT3 category. In September 2012, Klimenko purchased the
Stone Brothers Racing Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship between 1998 and 2012. The team was formed in 1998 when Ross and Jim Stone bought Alan Jones (racing driver), Alan J ...
team and V8 Supercars Championship racing license from co-owners Ross Stone and Jimmy Stone starting from the 2013 season. She renamed the team
Erebus Motorsport Erebus Motorsport (formerly known as Erebus Racing) is an Australian motor racing team. The team competes in the Supercars Championship with two Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s. The team's current drivers are Jack ...
after the Greek god of darkness, and would lease the licence for two years until 1 January 2015. This made Klimenko the first female to own a V8 Supercars squad. She and the former head of Mercedes-Benz's motorsport activities
Norbert Haug Norbert Friedrich Haug (born 24 November 1952) is a German journalist and the former vice president of Mercedes-Benz motorsport activity, including Formula One, Formula 3 and DTM. Under his direction, Mercedes-Benz enjoyed considerable success ...
agreed to an engine supply deal for Erebus Motorsport and was a Mercedes team, despite Mercedes-Benz Australia-Pacific telling its head office in Germany that V8 Supercars "was a sport for yobbos." To allow for the continuation of Erebus Motorsport, Klimenko financed the team from a family trust to service a loan after using up her personal income. The relationship between her and
Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG (Aufrecht, Melcher, Großaspach), is the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz AG. AMG independently hires engineers and contracts with manufacturers to customize Mercedes-Benz AMG v ...
and
HWA () are a type of traditional Korean boot, which, along with , is a subdivision of Korean shoes. The refers to all kind of shoes that do not go up to the ankle. are usually made of leather, and artisans who make the shoes are called . were ...
strained because the German marque did not understand the V8 Supercars Championship and team principal Ross Stone and team manager David Stuart left Erebus Motorsport. Klimenko switched manufacturers Mercedes to
Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. Founded in Adelaide, it was an automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. It was ...
in 2016 and moved Erebus Motorsport's headquarters from
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
to
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
. She was the first woman team owner to win the
Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...
when Erebus Motorsport drivers David Reynolds and
Luke Youlden Luke Gerard Youlden (born 28 January 1978) is an Australian Supercars series racing driver. He is the son of two-time Australian Production Car champion Kent Youlden (dec). Youlden currently drives for Kelly Grove Racing as a co-driver alongsi ...
finished first in the 2017 edition. In the 2018 championship, Klimenko's team finished fourth in the Teams' Championship. She sold 50 per cent of her share of the No. 99 Racing Entitlement Contract used by Erebus Motorsport, to the team's CEO Barry Ryan in June 2019. Klimenko promotes women in motorsport. She led the nationwide Women in Auto Trades campaign opposite Auto Skills Australia and the
Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...
in 2014 visiting schools and aiming to get young girls into the motor trades industry. In March 2018, Klimenko joined the Australian arm of the Dare to be Different initiative as a global ambassador aiming to increase involvement of women at all levels of motor racing. She is an ambassador for the Blue Datto Foundation, and of the bereavement charity for children Feel the Magic. Klimenko featured on a November 2013 episode of ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'' detailing her life and motor racing career.


Personal life

She is married to Daniel Klimenko with whom she has one child. Klimenko has two children from a previous marriage that lasted five years from 1981 to 1986. She was made a
Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
in the
2022 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...
"for significant service to motorsport, and to charitable organisations".


Net worth

the ''
Australian Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...
'' estimated Klimenko's
net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, so net w ...
as 3.10 
billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: * 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the most common sense of the word in all varieties of ...
as published in the '' 2025 Rich List'', held jointly with her half-sister, Monica Saunders-Weinberg, and their family. Klimenko and Saunders-Weinberg first appeared in the '' 2019 Rich List''.


Personality

Klimenko is a non-comfortist; Jane Cadzow of ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' noted "She swears, she smokes, she has a lot of tattoos." Described as "…outspoken and unapologetic…" by ''
Autosport ''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London, England. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. Autosport began life as a we ...
'', she is popular in Australian motorsport for "…her very personal brand of fan engagement plays very well indeed with the fans…" according to ''DailySportsCar''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klimenko, Betty 1959 births Living people Businesspeople from Sydney Australian adoptees 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women 21st-century Australian businesspeople Australian women in business Australian motorsport people Motorsport team owners Supercars Championship Members of the Order of Australia Australian billionaires Female billionaires