This week, we speak with Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team. Prior to joining Mercedes, Toto spent time in the investment world, founding his own company Marchfifteen in 1998 and Marchsixteen in 2004.
In 2009 Toto combined his passion for racing and business by investing in the Williams F1 Team. He eventually came to be the team’s Executive Director, helping to lead them toward their first win at the Spanish Grand Prix in eight years. Shortly after that win, Toto became Managing Partner of the Mercedes F1 team, where he now holds a 33% stake. In his time with Mercedes, the team has won eight Formula One Constructors’ Championships and seven Drivers’ Championships.
He explains how he found his way to racing from finance — he won a few races as a driver but lacked the money and sponsorship to compete. He went to University, but dropped out to launch two successful venture firms. He participated in the Initial Public Offering of HWA AG – the company behind developing/racing Mercedes cars for DTM (German Touring Car Championship), buying up a substantial minority interest.
Eventually, he took over the role of principal and minority shareholder at Williams, where he surprised people by winning a few races despite being underfunded team that was in the backhalf of the grid. This eventually led to an opportunity at Mercedes, and the rest is history.
A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.
You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Annie Lamont, co-founder and managing partner of Oak HC/FT. The firm was named one of the 10 best-performing venture capital firms in the world. She has been named to the Forbes Midas List (5X), Top 100 Venture Capitalists, and 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. She has received multiple Lifetime Achievement awards as well. Lamont is also th First Lady of Connecticut, married to Governor Ned Lamont
