Standing as one of the most recognizable figures on the F1 grid, Zak Brown is a unique entity. He is one of the very few people who went from racing as a driver to running companies as CEO and building a net worth of about $120 million. Born in Los Angeles, the McLaren CEO always wanted to be a racing driver. His only problem was a substantial lack of money.
According to Press Reader, Brown appeared on Wheel of Fortune as a teenager. He won some watches from the show, which he sold to fund an enrolment in a karting school. A few years later, he flew to the UK to find better opportunities.
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There, he found out his talent for finding sponsorships to fund his racing career. Once he realized he wasn’t fast enough to be a champion racer, Brown returned home to the US. Back home, he started a specialist motor racing agency, Just Marketing International.
The company aimed at brokering sponsorship deals in the US racing scene. Eventually, he sold the company to a sports marketing group for around $88.4 million.
In 1995, Zak Brown founded marketing company Just Marketing International (JMI), which grew to become the world’s largest and most successful motorsport marketing agency in the worldhttps://t.co/3WoNdbfbfC pic.twitter.com/x3HkEFaeDI
— SnapLap (@SnapLapNews) November 7, 2019
From 1986 to 1990, Brown raced for 5 seasons in the US, winning 22 races. In 1992, he raced in the Formula Opel series in Europe and secured a top-ten finish in each race. 1997 saw him finish second in the GT2 category of the 24 Hours of Daytona. From there, Brown would go on to build the biggest motorsport marketing agency in the world.
And then Zak Brown became McLaren’s CEO
Given his racing background, Brown had a deep understanding of the workings of the F1 world. It allowed him to bring a fresh perspective and valuable insights to his role as McLaren‘s CEO. The American has taken several strategic decisions to improve McLaren Racing across different categories, and not just F1.
Certainly, his experience of running a marketing agency helps him in the marketing-centric world of F1. Today, McLaren has become a huge brand and a very likable team. Its fanbase has increased a lot in the past few years, as Brown helmed a period of restructuring and rebranding since its struggling days in the 2010s.
“When a client says they have no budget it means they don’t like your idea”, Zak Brown at Huddle #Live #csm #jmi pic.twitter.com/AwQRYKsvia
— This is Rad (@radinagalabova) June 8, 2016
Away from his role as McLaren CEO, Brown is also a part of several other businesses. One of those ventures includes the co-ownership of United Autosports. With a focus on endurance racing, they are one of the largest motorsport teams in the UK.
The 52-year-old is also on the board of Cosworth Engineering. Contributing to his $120 million net worth, Brown also boasts of a luxury car collection worth $15 million.
