Formula 1 is usually seen as an expensive sport. However, not all of the prominent personalities in F1 were born with a silver spoon. A major example would be Toto Wolff, who went from once selling candles to now handling the most successful F1 team of the modern era. But Wolff did not follow the traditional path to success.
Wolff is currently the team principal of the Mercedes F1 team. Handling more than 1000 employees and conjuring up revenues of $450 Million annually, Wolff has led his team to eight constructors’ championships. In the process, he has rendered himself a billionaire.
Wolff dropped out of Vienna University to start his venture capital firm. He purchased a stake in Williams and went on to spend a few years as the Executive Director of the team. Following his upgrade to Mercedes, he managed to win all the constructors’ championships with them from 2014 to 2021. This success translated into financial success as well.
Wolff currently holds a 33% stake in Mercedes, a company valued worth $1 Billion by Forbes in 2019. However, business analyst Joe Pompliano believes that the company is currently valued at $1.5 Billion which makes Wolff’s share $500 Million. Added to this, Wolff earns $25 Million annually as his salary and has quite a few other successful investments under his belt as well which makes his net worth $1.6 Billion according to Forbes.
Toto Wolff claims to have never taken a risk in his career
Toto Wolff recently spoke to Ryan Roslansky, the CEO of LinkedIn for their series, The Path. Speaking about his own journey to success, Wolff explained that he does not believe in the idea of ‘finding one’s purpose.’
Wolff explained that an 18 or 19-year-old usually has no idea about what their passion or purpose is. He said, “I was a complete idiot until I was 23 or 24. So leave teenagers and young adults the possibility to look at various jobs to try and then eventually focus on one thing.”
“Follow your intuition and follow your interest.” – Toto
A fascinating chat with @LinkedInNews for their series, The Path. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/D25h1mAbRg
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 22, 2023
He further spoke about how he does not believe that he has ever taken any risks during his career. This is because all of his decisions were calculated. “If I could cope with the worst outcome, then it was a calculated risk,” said Toto Wolff.
TOTO WOLFF 🤍 pic.twitter.com/iOEpxAJ3xJ
— out of context Toto Wolff (@askolatte) July 21, 2023
Tough times make tough people
Toto Wolff did not have an easy journey to success. He lost his father when he was a teenager and had to overcome a period of financial crisis.
At a point in time, Wolff had to wear a golden cape and stand in a busy zone of an Austrian city. His job was to hand out leaflets for the local electronics shop. He also used to sell candles in Austria that were used during anti-racism protests. According to Wolff, that was his first business venture.
From those days to now, Wolff has come a long way. He is now one of the most influential people in Formula 1 and it’s easy to see why.
