Toto Wolff facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Toto Wolff
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Wolff in 2022
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Torger Christian Wolff
12 January 1972 Vienna, Austria
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| Alma mater | Vienna University of Economics and Business (dropped out) |
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| Children | 3 |
Torger Christian "Toto" Wolff (born 12 January 1972) is a very successful Austrian businessman and a top leader in motorsport. Since 2013, Wolff has been the team boss, CEO, and part-owner of the Mercedes team in Formula One. Under his leadership, Mercedes won eight straight World Constructors' Championship titles from 2014 to 2021. He also led the Mercedes-EQ team in Formula E, where they won two Formula E World Teams' Championship titles.
Wolff started his motorsport journey as a racing driver in Austria and Germany. He even won a race category in the 1994 24 Hours Nürburgring. Later, he raced in other big championships like the FIA GT Championship. As a businessman, Wolff started his own investment companies, Marchfifteen and Marchsixteen, focusing on technology and industrial companies. He has invested in famous racing teams like Williams F1 and companies like HWA AG.
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Early Life
Torger Christian Wolff was born in Vienna, Austria, on 12 January 1972. His mother was a doctor. He grew up in Vienna and went to a well-known French school there. When he was eight, his father was diagnosed with brain cancer. His parents separated, and his father passed away when Toto was 15 years old.
Business Career
Wolff started his first investment company, Marchfifteen, in 1998. He then started Marchsixteen in 2004. These companies first invested in internet and technology businesses. Since 2003, Wolff has focused on investing in medium-sized industrial companies.
One of his investments was in a German company called HWA AG. Wolff bought a 49% share in 2006. This company managed the racing program for Mercedes-Benz in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series. They also developed engines for F3 cars and the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 racing car.
Wolff also invested in BRR Rallye Racing, which is a big dealer of rally car parts in Europe. He also co-owns a sports management company with former F1 driver Mika Häkkinen. They helped manage the careers of racing drivers like Valtteri Bottas.
He was also the Director and CEO of the Mercedes EQ Formula E Team. He sometimes went to Formula E races. In August 2021, Mercedes won both the drivers' and teams' championships in Formula E. His wife, Susie Wolff, became the first female team boss to stand on the podium at a world championship motor race.
Wolff is also the vice-chairman of the Mary Bendet Foundation. This foundation helps improve the lives of children who are not as lucky.
Motorsport Career
Wolff began his racing career in 1992 in the Austrian Formula Ford Championship. He raced in both Austrian and German Formula Ford until 1994. In 1994, he won his category in the famous 24 Hours Nürburgring race.
In 2002, he finished sixth in the N-GT category of the FIA GT Championship and won one race. He then moved to the Italian GT Championship in 2003, winning a race in 2004. Wolff also finished second in the Austrian Rally Championship in 2006. He won the 2006 Dubai 24 Hour race that same year. In 2009, he even set a lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in a Porsche RSR.
Formula One Success
In 2009, Toto Wolff bought a share of the Williams Formula One Team and joined their board of directors. In 2012, he became an executive director at Williams F1. That year, the team won its last race to date at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix with Pastor Maldonado.
In January 2013, Wolff left Williams F1 to join the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team. He became an executive director and managing partner. He also bought 30% of Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. He took charge of all Mercedes-Benz motorsport activities.
Under Wolff's leadership, Mercedes has become incredibly successful in Formula One. Since 2014, Mercedes has won many races and championships. In 2020, Mercedes won its record seventh straight double world championship (both the Constructors' and Drivers' titles). This broke the previous record held by Ferrari. Mercedes also holds the record for seven straight Drivers' Championships from 2014 to 2020.
In 2018, Mercedes-Benz had its most successful motorsport year ever. They won both F1 titles, the 2018 Formula 2 Championship with George Russell, and the 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship with Mick Schumacher. They also won titles in DTM and F1 Esports.
Mercedes continued their success in 2019, winning their sixth straight double world championship. In 2020, they secured a seventh consecutive double world championship. This set an all-time record for consecutive constructors' championships. In the same season, Lewis Hamilton became the most successful driver in terms of race wins and tied the record for seven world drivers' championships held by Michael Schumacher.
The team then won an eighth straight constructors' world championship in 2021. However, they narrowly missed out on the drivers' title after a very close 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen won the championship over Hamilton.
Since 2014, Mercedes has won a huge number of races under Wolff's leadership. They have also achieved many pole positions and podium finishes. After the 2020 F1 season, Wolff signed a new deal to continue as team boss and CEO for at least three more years. His ownership in the team increased to 33%. In 2023, he signed another three-year deal to stay with Mercedes.
As of 2023, Toto Wolff's net worth is estimated to be around US$1.6 billion.
Academic Work
In May 2021, Wolff received an Honorary Doctorate from Cranfield University for his contributions to Motorsport.
In November 2021, Wolff was invited to be an Associate Fellow at the Oxford Saïd Business School. For two years, he will share his knowledge about leading high-performing teams and being effective, taking lessons from the racetrack to the classroom.
In February 2022, the way Wolff leads the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team became the subject of a study at Harvard Business School. Wolff visited Harvard in March 2022 to teach this study to MBA students. He led a discussion about strong leadership and team culture. In May 2022, Wolff was named an executive fellow at Harvard Business School. In this role, he will be a guest lecturer.
Professor Anita Elberse, who wrote the Harvard study, said it's very hard for a team to win a world championship eight times in a row. She finds it fascinating how Wolff has kept his team at the top for so long.
Personal Life
Wolff is married to Susie Wolff (born Stoddart), who was also a racecar driver. She is now the managing director of F1 Academy, a racing series for young female drivers. They got married in October 2011 and live in Monaco. They have one son, born in April 2017. Wolff also has two other children from a previous marriage. He can speak German, English, French, Italian, and Polish.
