Toto Wolff has sold a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes-AMG F1 team to George Kurtz, the billionaire founder and CEO of CrowdStrike, marking the first material change to the team's capital structure since Wolff acquired his 33.3% stake in 2013. The transaction size was not disclosed. Kurtz, whose cybersecurity firm carries a market capitalization north of $90 billion, joins a tight ownership circle that includes Mercedes-Benz Group AG (33.3%), INEOS (33.3%), and Wolff's now-reduced stake.
The sale arrives as Formula 1 team valuations have climbed sharply following the sport's commercial resurgence under Liberty Media. McLaren Racing was valued at approximately $1 billion when MSP Sports Capital took a minority stake in 2020; Alpine F1 and Williams Racing have since entertained offers that imply similar or higher multiples. Mercedes won eight consecutive constructors' championships from 2014 through 2021, but has finished third in the standings the past two seasons, posting 409 points in 2023 and 468 points in 2024 as Red Bull and McLaren have dominated. The timing suggests Wolff is monetizing equity at a peak valuation cycle while the sport's U.S. expansion and Las Vegas Grand Prix still buoy franchise prices, even as on-track performance has slipped.
Kurtz's entry introduces a Silicon Valley governance model into a team historically controlled by German automotive capital and British petrochemical wealth. CrowdStrike's business—endpoint security and threat intelligence—maps awkwardly onto F1's traditional sponsor verticals of luxury goods, energy, and logistics, but Kurtz himself has shown appetite for motorsport adjacencies. He purchased a $100 million Gulfstream G650ER in 2021 and has been photographed in paddocks at Miami and Austin. His equity stake, however modest, signals that Formula 1's appeal has broadened beyond Middle Eastern sovereign wealth and American private equity into the tech founder class that previously treated European motorsport as a spectator pastime rather than an asset class.
The transaction also clarifies Wolff's forward positioning. He has served as team principal and CEO since 2013, a dual role that grants him operational control disproportionate to his equity share. By reducing his ownership stake while retaining his executive titles, Wolff gains liquidity without surrendering decision rights—a classic founder trade. The move parallels Christian Horner's structure at Red Bull Racing, where operational authority is contractual rather than capital-based. It also removes pressure for Wolff to maintain pro-rata capital contributions if Mercedes or INEOS seek to inject further funds for the team's ongoing technical restructuring, including a new wind tunnel facility at Brackley and leadership changes across aerodynamics and performance engineering.
Mercedes has announced no immediate operational changes tied to the transaction. Kurtz's involvement will likely remain passive in year one, though his presence on term sheets or board minutes will matter if the team considers future capital raises or sponsor negotiations in the cybersecurity or enterprise software verticals. CrowdStrike's annual revenue exceeded $3 billion in fiscal 2024, and Kurtz's personal net worth is estimated at $8 billion by Forbes, making him one of the wealthier individual stakeholders in the paddock behind Lawrence Stroll and the Glazer-adjacent investors at Alpine.
Watch for secondary reporting on the exact percentage sold and whether Kurtz has board representation or observer rights. Mercedes' 2025 driver lineup—George Russell and 18-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli—represents the team's youngest pairing in the turbo-hybrid era, and any mid-season underperformance could accelerate technical director hires or sponsor churn. INEOS, which also owns the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team and one-third of Manchester United, has committed publicly to long-term F1 investment, but Kurtz's arrival adds a fourth voice to ownership discussions that were previously a three-wayplit. The next capital event to monitor is the conclusion of F1's current Concorde Agreement cycle in 2025, when team valuations will reset based on revised prize money distribution and cost cap enforcement.
Wolff's playbook is now legible: operational control, partial liquidity, and optionality to sell further tranches if the team's competitive trajectory flattens or if a U.S.-based entrant triggers another valuation spike. Kurtz paid for a seat at a table that still wins constructor points, even if it no longer wins titles.
The takeaway
Wolff monetizes equity at peak F1 valuations while retaining control; Kurtz's tech wealth enters a team structure dominated by automotive and petrochemical capital.
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