Before experiencing success in the world of motorsports, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff had to overcome several obstacles. But despite his difficult experiences, he persisted and launched his first business by selling candles. Recalling the same on Nico Rosberg’s podcast, the 52-year-old revealed that he bought a large quantity of candles in the 1990s to sell during the protest. Wolff claims that although the business didn’t initially take off, it did eventually reach unprecedented heights. According to Wolff, this demonstrates that your product will sell if you can generate demand for it. With the same mindset, Wolff went on to become one of the wealthiest people in the world of racing, with a $1.6 billion net worth as of right now.
In order to explain how Wolff’s wealth has risen, Joe Pompliano has recently shared a LinkedIn post. In the beginning, Pompliano noted that Wolff joined the Williams F1 team’s board of directors and purchased a 16% share in the company in 2012.
However, Wolff’s investment gained attention only after Williams won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. This is when Wolff created a demand for himself and ended up also attracting the interest of Mercedes, who ended up hiring the Austrian as the team principal of their side.
While describing the same, Pompliano wrote, “Mercedes asked Toto Wolff to run their F1 team, but Toto declined because of his equity stake in Williams. So Mercedes sweetened the deal, offering him an unlimited budget and a 30% stake in the team at an “attractive valuation” of ~$30 million. Toto accepted, and the rest is history.”
Since Wolff took over Mercedes as the team principal, the side has won seven Drivers’ and eight Constructors’ championships. However, besides the on-track success, Wolff has also brought significant financial success to Mercedes.
Ever since he took over the position, Mercedes have added 650 employees. Moreover, the team’s annual revenue has also more than doubled from $196 million to over $450 million.
Consequently of Mercedes’ success, the valuation of the team has increased from $170 million to a whopping $2.7 billion. This means that Wolff’s initial share of a $30m equity stake in the team has now increased to $900m. This amount does not include Wolff’s salary at the team or his other investments.
What is the current situation of Toto Wolff and Mercedes?
Despite having assisted Mercedes in winning consecutive titles, Toto Wolff appears to be in a difficult situation at the moment. This is because Mercedes have only won one race since the arrival of the ground effects regulation in 2022.
Moreover, since then Mercedes hasn’t gotten any better and keep facing newer concerns. The latest one was their engine overheating issues at the season opener in Bahrain.
As a result of such issues, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has also seemingly decided to cut ties with Mercedes. The Briton’s departure from Brackley will most likely put the team in hot waters.
Furthermore, besides losing a competent driver, the German manufacturer will also face a big commercial loss. This is because Hamilton is well-known in the racing industry, and attracts several sponsors and followers.
Nevertheless, now that Hamilton will be leaving for Ferrari, Toto Wolff and the rest of Mercedes will have to come up with a big name to recover from this huge loss. For now, Wolff has a handful of options to place in the vacant seat of Mercedes.
