Betty Klimenko
Betty Klimenko | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1959 Sydney, Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, Motorsport team principal |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Known for | First female owner to win the Bathurst 1000; head of Erebus Motorsport |
Betty Ann Saunders-Klimenko (born 1959) is an Australian entrepreneur and motorsport team principal, heading the Erebus Motorsport outfit in the Supercars Championship. In 2017, she made history as the first female owner to claim victory at the Bathurst 1000. Klimenko advocates for increased female involvement in motorsport and acts as a global ambassador for the Australian division of the Dare to be Different campaign.
Early life
Born in Sydney in 1959, Klimenko entered the world as the illegitimate daughter of a police officer and Vietnam War veteran and Anne Neil, a former Miss West Australia. She was born with drug dependency and was abandoned at seven weeks old at the adoption ward of the former Crown Street Women's Hospital. Klimenko has scant knowledge of her birth mother, who passed away when Klimenko was five years old, and she never encountered her biological parents.
Her adoptive parents were John Saunders, a Hungarian-Jewish co-founder of the Westfield Group and a survivor of Nazi concentration camps, along with his wife Eta. Although Klimenko was born into a Catholic family, she was brought up in a Jewish environment without undergoing formal conversion. She has one younger adopted brother and was mainly cared for by nannies due to her adoptive father’s demanding career. Klimenko attended a Church of England educational institution.
Career
At thirteen, Klimenko started working for Saunders, cleaning shopping centres every Saturday over five years. She also took roles such as Santa’s helper and became the first woman employed in the men’s jeans section at Grace Bros. Following Saunders’ second marriage, Klimenko experienced estrangement but later reconciled after her son’s birth and inherited part of her adoptive father’s property development wealth. Alongside her sister, she holds the position of joint deputy chairperson at the family-owned Terrace Tower Group.
Her passion for motor racing ignited in 1999 after participating in a Porsche driving experience with her husband. She competed in amateur and semi-professional racing disciplines, focusing mainly on Formula 3 and GT categories, sponsoring teams for 14 years and managing a fleet of Mercedes SLS GT3 vehicles. In September 2012, Klimenko acquired Stone Brothers Racing along with its Supercars Championship license, rebranding it as Erebus Motorsport. This acquisition established her as the first female owner of a V8 Supercars team. Despite some internal doubts about the sport, she secured an engine partnership with Mercedes-Benz.
Erebus Motorsport was funded through a family trust once Klimenko depleted her personal finances. After encountering difficulties with Mercedes-AMG and losing key personnel, she transitioned to Holden engines in 2016 and moved the team’s base to Victoria. The team achieved victory at the 2017 Bathurst 1000, marking Klimenko as the first woman to own a winning team in that event. Erebus Motorsport placed fourth in the Teams' Championship in 2018. In June 2019, she sold half of her stake in the No. 99 Racing Entitlement Contract to CEO Barry Ryan.
Klimenko is committed to advancing women’s roles within motorsport. She spearheaded the national Women in Auto Trades campaign in 2014 aimed at encouraging girls to enter automotive trades and became a global ambassador for Dare to be Different in 2018 to boost female engagement across all racing tiers. Moreover, she supports the Blue Datto Foundation and Feel the Magic, a charity focused on children's bereavement. Her life story and racing career were featured on a 2013 episode of 60 Minutes.
Personal life
Klimenko is married to Daniel Klimenko, and together they have one child. From a previous marriage that lasted from 1981 to 1986, she has two additional children. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to motorsport and charitable causes, she was honored as a Member of the Order of Australia during the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours.
Net worth
By May 2025, the Australian Financial Review valued Klimenko's wealth at AUD 3.10 billion, a fortune she shares with her half-sister Monica Saunders-Weinberg and their family. Their debut on the Financial Review Rich List occurred in 2019.
| Year | Financial Review Rich List |
Forbes Australia's 50 richest | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Net worth AUD |
Rank | Net worth USD | |
| 2019 | 32 Template:Up | $2.37 billion Template:Up | ||
| 2020 | 29 Template:Up | $2.73 billion Template:Up | ||
| 2021 | 37 
|
$2.66 billion
|
||
| 2022 | 40
|
$2.70 billion
|
||
| 2023 | 40 
|
$2.76 billion Template:Up | ||
| 2024 | 46
|
$2.88 billion Template:Up | ||
| 2025 | 49
|
$3.10 billion Template:Up | ||
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Icon | Description |
|
|
No change compared to prior year |
|
Increase relative to previous year |
| Template:Loss | Decline from previous year |
Personality
Known for her rebellious nature, Klimenko has been described by Jane Cadzow of The Age as someone who "swears, smokes, and sports numerous tattoos." Autosport characterized her as "outspoken and unapologetic," while DailySportsCar highlights her unique approach to engaging fans, which has earned her considerable admiration within the Australian motorsport community.