Mercedes F1 CEO Toto Wolff is the richest team principal in the paddock with a whopping net worth of $540,000,000. He has earned most of his net worth by making some shrewd investments throughout his career. However, when it comes to his biggest rival, Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal is still on salary. The Briton has a net worth of just $68,000,000 (as quoted by caknowledge.com) in stark contrast to Wolff despite holding his position for longer than the Austrian. Even though Wolff and Horner have such a huge difference in wealth, former F1 owner Eddie Jordan still believes that the Red Bull team principal has been so successful because he does not have the burden of responsibility for being a part-owner of his team.
When it comes to Wolff, he began his entrepreneurial career in 1998 when he first founded an investment company called Marchfifteen. Soon after, he also made investments in companies that provided supplies for the racing cars of Mercedes. However, it was not until 2007 that the 51-year-old had his major breakthrough.
That year, Wolff acquired a 49% stake in the Mercedes DTM racing team. Soon after, he also acquired a stake in Williams before purchasing a 30% stake in the Mercedes F1 team. It is in this fashion that Wolff increased his wealth substantially over the years to become a billionaire today.
On the other hand, although Horner too is one of the richest team principals in the paddock, his wealth is nowhere close to that of Wolff. And when Jordan was recently asked in an interview if the monetary difference between the two is something that makes their relationship sour.
Jordan credits Horner for his success despite not following Wolff’s way
In the most recent episode of the Formula for Success podcast, former driver David Coulthard asked former F1 owner Eddie Jordan several questions about the difficulty of managing a team. Among the many that Coulthard asked, one of them was if there is a possibility that Christian Horner may feel “bitter” when he says Toto Wolff’s entrepreneurial success.
In reply, Jordan said, “I think they are both different. Christian should not in any way feel bitter. I think he is earning particularly great money. And I think the thing he does not need to worry about is the finances“.
Since Horner does not need to worry about the same, Jordan believes that this has been a “benefit to him“. This is because the Briton can now put in all his efforts to help the team perform in the best way that he can.
After stating the same, Jordan also pointed out that at one stage Horner was keen to purchase his Jordan Grand Prix team, but things did not work out. The Irish businessman believes that the same was a blessing in disguise for the Red Bull team principal as the 49-year-old may not have had the success that he has been having now.
Eddie Jordan reveals Christian Horner made an effort to sign his team
While speaking on the same podcast, Eddie Jordan revealed that prior to joining Red Bull, Christian Horner had also attempted to sign the Jordan Grand Prix team from him by receiving money from Hong Kong. The 75-year-old believes that Horner would now be glad that his plans of owning a team did not materialize as he is currently having one of F1’s best-ever purple patches.
“This is one of the biggest purple patches for a race team in motorsports history what Red Bull is doing“, explained Jordan. After stating the same, the Irish businessman concluded his remarks by explaining the difference in being an employee like Horner and being an investor like Toto Wolff.
Jordan believes that Horner is likely to be happy where he is as he does not risk losing money like Wolff. As for Horner, it is fair to say that he and Red Bull are having the time of their lives as the team has won all 12 races of the 2023 season so far.
