Toto Wolff

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Toto Wolff (2016)

Torger Christian "Toto" Wolff (born January 12, 1972 in Vienna ) is an Austrian investor , automobile racing driver and head of motorsport at Mercedes .

Racing career

Wolff started his motorsport career in 1992 in the Austrian Formula Ford . In 1993 and 1994 he drove in the Austrian and German Formula Ford. In 1994 he was class winner in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring . In 2002 Wolff finished sixth in the NGT class of the FIA GT Championship and achieved a class victory. In 2003 he won a race in the GT1 class in Italy. In 2004 Wolff drove together with Karl Wendlinger in the FIA ​​GT Championship. In 2006 Wolff became Vice State Champion in the Austrian State Rally Championship and won the 24-hour race in Dubai .

With a time of 7:03 minutes, Toto Wolff set a new lap record in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR in April 2009 on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife for vehicles without a turbo unit.

Business career

In 1998 Wolff founded the venture capital company Marchfifteen and in 2004 the investment company Marchsixteen Investments . Originally he invested in internet and technology companies through these companies, and since 2003 increasingly in medium-sized industrial companies and companies on the stock exchange. Current investments include the German HWA AG , of which Wolff served as deputy chairman Hans Werner Aufrecht , founder of AMG , on the supervisory board until the beginning of 2013 and which he went public in 2007. HWA AG oversees the DTM program for Mercedes , develops Formula 3 engines and builds the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 racing car . Continued participation is BRR Rallye Racing , the one of the largest sellers of rally parts in Europe in 2008 with the then Red Bull driver Andreas Aigner PWRC rally world champion was well in 2011 with Juho Hänninen as a driver the SWRC World Rally Championship could win. Furthermore, Wolff is co-owner of a sports management company with Mika Häkkinen and was involved in the management of young racing drivers such as B. Bruno Spengler , Alexandre Prémat and Valtteri Bottas . In November 2009 he acquired a minority stake in Williams F1 with his Marchsixteen holding company , which also made him join the board of the British racing team.

In February 2011, Wolff Williams Grand Prix Holding PLC (WGF1) became the first F1 team to go public. On January 21, 2013, Wolff succeeded Norbert Haug as head of motorsport at Mercedes . Wolff and his business partner Rene Berger have held a 30 percent stake in Mercedes GP since 2013 and are on the Management Board, Wolff as Executive Managing Director, Berger as Non-Executive Director.

In 2019 Wolff, whose investments are otherwise more in the field of motorsport, invested in the Austrian psychology startup Instahelp.

In 2020 there was excitement about an investment by Toto Wolff in the car manufacturer Aston Martin , which will operate its own Formula 1 team from 2021. The media therefore speculated that Wolff would leave Mercedes and join the new Aston Martin team. It was later announced that Wolff's stake in Aston Martin is only 0.95% of the company and that it will not affect his work at Mercedes.

The Swiss magazine Bilanz estimates Wolff's fortune at CHF 550 million .

Philanthropic engagement

Wolff is vice chairman of the Mary Bendet Foundation, which was founded in memory of a school friend who died early. The Foundation supports disadvantaged children, in particular by financing sleeping and play areas in day care centers and by sponsoring training programs and specific facilities for blind or disabled children to prepare them for everyday life.

Private

Wolff's mother is a doctor of Polish descent; his father died when he was 15 years old. Wolff successfully completed part of his school career at the Lycée Français de Vienne . Wolff lives with his wife, the Scottish racing driver Susie Wolff , in Ermatingen on Lake Constance in Switzerland .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerald Enzinger: The Toto winner . In: Wiener Post , Styria Media Group , November 10, 2010. Archived from the original on March 14, 2011. Retrieved on December 14, 2010. 
  2. ^ Spiegel Online : Record holder for naturally aspirated engines, Christian "Toto" Wolff , July 30, 2009
  3. ↑ boerse-express.com: Together with investors such as Willibald Dörflinger, Wolff took over HWA AG - IPO in Germany ( memento of December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), March 30, 2007.
  4. ↑ sportnet.at: Häkkinen and Wolff make a common cause , December 5, 2008.
  5. ↑ derstandard .at: Wolff becomes partner at Williams , November 20, 2009.
  6. ↑ handelsblatt .com: Wolff becomes Haug's successor at Mercedes ( Memento from December 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), January 21, 2013
  7. ↑ Wolff and Lauda buy Mercedes shares. Motorsport-Total.com, January 21, 2013, accessed October 8, 2013.
  8. ↑ Three million euros for online psychology counseling Instahelp. In: the incubator. February 19, 2019, accessed April 27, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Toto Wolff buys shares in Aston Martin. Retrieved April 27, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Toto Wolff . In: handelszeitung.ch . Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  11. ↑ Mary Bendet Foundation: www.marybendetfoundation.com
  12. ↑ The career of Toto Wolff: From finance shark to team boss . formel1.de.
  13. ↑ From poor "petrol brother" to F1 big player
  14. ↑ From racing driver to Mercedes boss

Web links

Commons : Toto Wolff  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Wolff, Toto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wolff, Torger Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian investor and racing driver
DATE OF BIRTH January 12, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna , Austria