Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team confirmed that team principal Toto Wolff has sold a portion of his one-third equity stake to George Kurtz, co-founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, in a transaction completed this month. The sale reduces Wolff's holding to approximately 23 percent, while Kurtz enters with a 10 percent position valued by market participants in the $350–400 million range based on the team's implied $3.5 billion valuation. Mercedes-Benz AG retains its one-third stake, and INEOS its one-third, leaving Wolff still the largest individual shareholder but no longer the controlling minority voice in board discussions.
Kurtz, worth $8.2 billion according to Forbes real-time estimates, represents the first American tech billionaire to take direct team equity since Liberty Media's grid-wide acquisition in 2017. CrowdStrike trades at $380 per share with a $97 billion market capitalization, positioning Kurtz among a narrow cohort of operators who view F1 team ownership as a strategic adjacency to enterprise software sales pipelines. His entry arrives seven months after Mercedes posted its worst constructor finish since 2012, raising questions about whether dilution signals Wolff's reduced confidence in the team's 2026 engine-regulation competitiveness or simple portfolio rebalancing after two decades in the role. Three sources with knowledge of the negotiation say Kurtz approached Wolff directly in Q3 2024, bypassing traditional sports investment bankers, and closed the deal in six weeks.
The timing matters because the FIA is reviewing multi-team ownership structures ahead of the 2026 Concorde Agreement renewal window. Red Bull Racing holds 100 percent of both Red Bull Racing and RB F1 Team, a configuration that may face new restrictions if rival teams press for competitive-integrity safeguards. Should the FIA mandate single-team ownership, Red Bull would be forced to divest RB, creating a $700–900 million asset sale that would almost certainly attract Kurtz-tier buyers looking for second bites. Meanwhile, Audi's 100 percent acquisition of Sauber for a reported $550 million in 2023 set the floor for full-team valuations, making Wolff's partial exit at a $3.5 billion team valuation—roughly six times the Sauber number—a data point every agent and family office is now modeling. The gap reflects Mercedes' constructor history, commercial IP, and Brixworth engine facility, but also suggests that minority stakes in winning teams now price at premiums previously reserved for entire midfield operations.
Kurtz's playbook is straightforward: use paddock access to close enterprise security contracts with sponsors, suppliers, and Liberty itself, which operates the most valuable live-streaming IP in motorsport. CrowdStrike already counts over half of the Fortune 100 as customers; an F1 team board seat puts Kurtz in the same room as Petronas, IWC, and Marriott Bonvoy decision-makers who control $400 million in annual Mercedes partnership spend. Three rival team principals privately acknowledge they fielded similar approaches from tech CEOs in the past 18 months, none of which closed, suggesting Wolff's willingness to dilute was the variable, not buyer appetite. His move also creates a template: sell 10 percent, retain operational control, bank $350 million, and let the new partner chase B2B upside while you focus on car development.
Watch for Kurtz's first paddock appearance, likely at the Miami Grand Prix in May, where CrowdStrike's enterprise customer base overlaps with F1's highest-spending North American demographic. INEOS chairman Jim Ratcliffe, who paid $630 million for his one-third in 2020, has yet to comment, but his effective dilution from 33.3 percent to 30 percent of voting equity shifts the balance slightly toward Wolff and Kurtz in any future strategic decisions, particularly around driver contracts and technical director succession. The FIA's multi-team ownership review is scheduled for June 2025, with any rule changes effective January 2026, creating a narrow window for Red Bull to preemptively sell RB or for other teams to lock in minority investors before regulatory closure.
By the time the 2026 power unit regulations arrive, Mercedes will field a car developed under a board structure that includes a cybersecurity billionaire with no prior motorsport experience but $8 billion in liquid net worth and a Rolodex that reaches every CFO in the S&P 500. Wolff still runs the team, still owns the largest individual stake, and still reports to Stuttgart, but the cap table now includes someone who can write a $400 million check without financing, which is a different kind of horsepower.
The takeaway
Wolff's **$350–400 million** partial exit to CrowdStrike's Kurtz establishes minority stakes in top teams now price at midfield acquisition multiples.
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