Toto Wolff is a former motorsport racer from Austria who now focuses his time and fortune on investing and business. Currently, he serves as the CEO and Principal of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team. As of 2023, Toto Wolff has a net worth of $570 million. This will surprise some F1 fans, he’s even richer than Lewis Hamilton who’s worth a cool $285 million.
Early Life
Wolff was born on January 12, 1972, in Vienna, Austria. His real name is Torger Christian Wolff. He was raised with his sister by a Polish father and a Romanian mother who worked as a physician.
When he was just eight, his father was hospitalized with cancer. After the discovery of his father’s illness, his parents split up. During Toto’s adolescent years, his dad died of the condition.
Despite growing up in a low-income household, he was raised in the city and went to a French school there. He and his sister presumably left the school after the diagnosis of their father.
Motorsport Career
The Austrian Formula Ford Championship was where Torger began his motorsport journey in 1992. He then moved to Germany’s Formula Ford Championship from 1993 to 1994.
He proceeded to win several competitions. He topped his category in the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1994. In 2003, he transferred to the GT Championship in Italy, where he won a race with Lorenzo Case in the following year.
In 2006, he got second place in the Austrian Rally Championship. In the same year, he won the Dubai 24 Hour. With a Porsche RSR, he set a lap record on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 2009.
Formula One
The Williams Formula One Team had Toto Wolff join the board of directors in 2009 after he bought a share of the organization. He was appointed executive director in 2012.
Wolff departed Williams F1 in early 2013 to be Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s executive director. He also bought 30% of the Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes won a record-tying seventh straight double world title in 2020. From 2014 to 2020, they also set a record by winning seven successive Driver’s Championships. According to The Daily Star, Wolff’s salary at Mercedes is over £7 million per year.
Other Investments
He established the investment groups Marchfifteen in 1998 and Marchsixteen in 2004, both of which concentrated on internet and technology assets at the start.
His other acquisitions included a 49% share in German HWA AG, which he purchased in 2006 and listed on the public exchange in 2007. BRR Rallye Racing is another investment of his.
Toto was also active managing numerous racing drivers as one of the owners of a sports management firm with former F1 driver Mika Häkkinen.
Personal Life
In the 1990s, Toto Wolff met and married Stephanie Wolff. They had two children together. However, after a decade together, the couple divorced.
Currently, he resides in Monaco with his wife, Susie Wolff, the CEO of ROKiT Venturi Racing. She worked for Williams as a development driver, which is how she met Toto. They got married in 2011 and had their first child in 2017.