Former Gizmondo executive tied to spectacular Ferrari crash

If you follow the evening news on your local TV channels you probably haven’t missed the reports about a stunning car crash of a rare Ferrari on California’s Pacific Coast Highway. A 2003 Ferrari Enzo was involved in a nightly car race with a similarly exclusive Mercedes SLR when it hit a light pole and broke into two halves.

According to the local Police, the driver has been 44-year-old Bel Air resident Stefan Eriksson, which, if we believe media reports, is the same Stefan Eriksson that was employed by Gizmondo Europe until 20 Oct of last year. Leaving a 1000 feet skid mark, Eriksson’s Ferrari was estimated to have reached a speed of 200 mph. The local TV station KTLA, which has published a short video of the damaged car, reported that Eriksson walked away after the crash - apparently just with slight bruises.

Gizmondo, once a hyped company that planned to compete with Nintendo and Sony in the portable game console arena, appears to be on life support these days, as Gizmondo Europe will be liquidated, according to media reports. Eriksson resigned from his executive position at the company in October of last year, after the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet had revealed that he had been convicted twice in the mid 1990s on mobster-related charges.

As for the Ferrari Enzo, which was produced just 399 times and carried a sticker of about $700,000 when new, Eriksson may be able to replace his toy : Gizmondo was famous for its excessive spending habits, which, in the case of Eriksson, included a $100,000 business car allowance and a $3.5 million compensation package for Eriksson.

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Fast Cars, Big Debts And The Mafia : The Gizmondo Story