Toto Wolff has sold a portion of his 33.3% stake in Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team to George Kurtz, the billionaire co-founder and CEO of CrowdStrike Holdings. The transaction, announced Monday, marks the first time Wolff has diluted his position since acquiring his one-third shareholding in 2013 alongside Daimler AG and Ineos. Terms were not disclosed. Wolff remains team principal and CEO through at least the end of 2026, per his most recent contract extension.
Kurtz, worth approximately $8.2 billion according to Bloomberg's wealth index, built CrowdStrike into a $90 billion cybersecurity company after selling his previous firm, Foundstone, to McAfee in 2004. He sits on the board of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, the German automaker that owns 33.3% of the F1 team through its AMG performance division. The sale structure leaves Wolff with a minority position for the first time in his tenure, though the precise dilution percentage was not disclosed by either party.
The move matters for three reasons. First, it introduces an operational software executive into a team that has publicly flagged simulation and aerodynamic correlation as deficits behind McLaren and Red Bull Racing. Mercedes finished fourth in the constructors' championship in 2024, its worst result since 2011, collecting 468 points against McLaren's 666. Wolff has said the team underinvested in computational infrastructure during the budget cap transition. Kurtz brings relationships inside AWS, Microsoft, and Oracle—all active in F1's cloud stack.
Second, the timing aligns with Mercedes' factory expansion in Brackley, where the team is installing what it describes as a next-generation wind tunnel ahead of the 2026 power unit regulations. That capital program, initiated in 2023, is expected to exceed £50 million and overlaps with Wolff's public acknowledgment that the team needs external capital for non-homologated infrastructure. Ineos, which acquired its 33.3% stake in 2020, has not announced additional funding beyond its initial £700 million valuation.
Third, Kurtz's entrance opens a path for Mercedes-Benz Group to reduce its financial exposure without ceding symbolic control. The German manufacturer has discussed trimming motorsport budgets across Formula E, Formula One, and its customer racing programs as it redirects capital to battery production. CrowdStrike and Mercedes-Benz Group signed a multi-year cybersecurity partnership in 2022; Kurtz joined the supervisory board in 2023. His board seat preceded this transaction by 18 months.
Wolff's contract runs through the end of 2026, the first season under F1's revised power unit regulations. Mercedes HPP, the Brixworth-based engine division, has committed to the platform alongside Ferrari, Honda, and Red Bull Powertrains. Wolff has said he will evaluate his role after 2026, when Lewis Hamilton's contract expires and the team's driver lineup remains undecided beyond George Russell's deal through 2025.
Watch for three developments. First, whether Kurtz takes a board seat on the F1 team entity itself, separate from his Mercedes-Benz Group board role. Second, whether Ineos or Mercedes-Benz Group announce adjustments to their shareholdings before the 2026 season begins. Third, whether CrowdStrike logos appear on the W16 livery or in hospitality signage when the team launches its 2025 car, expected in mid-February at Silverstone.
Wolff has sold equity once before, diluting his stake in Williams F1 when he joined Mercedes in 2013. That transaction valued Williams at approximately £120 million. The current Mercedes team was valued at £2.4 billion in a 2023 appraisal conducted for Ineos.
The takeaway
Wolff's dilution brings a software billionaire into Mercedes F1's ownership as the team invests in simulation infrastructure and faces the 2026 power unit reset.
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