Mercedes boss Toto Wolff's journey to becoming a billionaire

Mercedes team principal and Executive Chairman Toto Wolff is currently one of the two billionaire owners in the sport, the other being Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll. Wolff has a net worth of $1.6 billion. However, the 52-year-old wasn't born into the riches like one could argue for Stroll and had to face some hard times in his life that even saw him and his family struggling to make ends meet.

Wolff has previously recounted his tale of having to leave school due to being unable to pay the fees. Let's take a look at his journey to becoming the successful leader of one of the biggest brands in the world:

Toto Wolff's life before F1

Wolff was born in the Austrian capital, Vienna in 1972. He showed an interest in motorsports at a young age and began his foray into the world of competitive driving at 20 years old when he raced in the Austrian Formula Ford Championship.

He further competed in the German Formula Ford categories in the 1993 and 1994 seasons but gave up his career in favor of entrepreneurship in the 2000s.

Founding companies

Toto Wolff founded two companies, Marchfifteen in 1998 and Marchsixteen in 2004, which focused on the internet and technology sectors. He started funding medium-sized companies such as German HWA AG, where he held a 49% stake before its listing on the stock exchange in 2007.

He also became a co-owner of a sports management company alongside former F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen that managed drivers such as Valtteri Bottas and Alexandre Premat.

Buying shares in Williams F1

Toto Wolff entered the Formula 1 fray when he bought a 16% stake in the historic but ailing Williams F1 team and joined the board of directors alongside legendary co-founder Sir Frank Williams.

During his time with the Grove, England-based outfit, they saw a resurgence in results which even culminated in a race win at the 2012 Spanish GP, courtesy of Pastor Maldanoda, it also being the driver's own maiden win.

Joining Mercedes and taking over the helm from Ross Brawn

Toto Wolff joined the iconic Mercedes brand in 2013 and as a part of the team got a 30% stake in the F1 teams's shares, while continuing to hold a minor 5% stake in Williams. He took over the reins of the Mercedes F1 team at the beginning of the 2014 season when Ross Brawn left, sharing leadership responsibilities with Paddy Lowe.

However, with Lowe's departure to Williams F1 sometime later, the Austrian gets most of the credit for Mercedes' domination in the sport from 2014 to 2021, during which the team won eight consecutive Constructors' Championships.

Becoming a billionaire

In April 2023, Forbes declared Toto Wolff the newest billionaire with a net worth of over a billion dollars, which has grown in 2024 to $1.6 billion.

His investments as the 33% owner of the Mercedes F1 team, being the director and CEO of the brand's EQ team in Formula E, and having some shares in the Aston Martin brand all helped him breach the billion-dollar mark.