Toto Wolff has sold a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team to George Kurtz, the co-founder and CEO of CrowdStrike, whose personal net worth sits near $8 billion following the cybersecurity firm's decade-long run from startup to S&P 500 constituent. The sale, confirmed by team sources last week, marks the first time Wolff has diluted his holding since he acquired his original stake in 2013. Mercedes-Benz AG retains its majority position.
Wolff's stake, believed to have been roughly 33% before the transaction, now sits lower by an undisclosed percentage. Kurtz's entry price was not disclosed, but private conversations among team sponsors place the valuation of the entire operation above $2 billion, more than triple what similar assets traded for five years ago. Wolff remains team principal and CEO. Kurtz, who has attended four grands prix since Monaco, joins as a non-executive partner. His first paddock appearance was unremarkable until he was photographed in the garage wearing a CrowdStrike-branded cap during FP2 in Montreal.
The timing is deliberate. Mercedes has underperformed on track since the 2022 regulatory reset, finishing third in the constructors' championship two seasons running after eight consecutive titles. Wolff has spent the last eighteen months repositioning the team's commercial architecture, signing extensions with Petronas and IWC while quietly courting a technology sponsor to replace a $40 million annual hole left by a pharma partner's exit. CrowdStrike, which spends roughly $500 million per year on marketing and has no prior F1 presence, is the obvious candidate. Kurtz's stake makes the sponsorship conversation easier; equity alignment removes negotiation friction.
The financial logic is clean. Wolff extracts liquidity without surrendering operational control. Kurtz buys a single-digit percentage of a business with $600 million in annual revenue, access to 500 million cumulative television viewers, and a cost cap that forces margins upward. The deal also insulates Wolff from future pressure if Mercedes-Benz reconsiders its factory commitment, a scenario that surfaces every time the parent company reports weak automotive earnings. A billionaire partner with no ties to Stuttgart changes the leverage map.
Kurtz is not the first tech founder to enter F1 through a stake sale rather than a sponsorship deck. Oracle's Larry Ellison explored a similar arrangement with Red Bull Racing before the team's title sponsor slot became available. The difference here is that CrowdStrike operates in a sector—endpoint security—where brand awareness drives enterprise sales cycles. F1's affluent viewership and C-suite hospitality access are worth more than television impressions. Kurtz's presence in the garage is the sponsorship; the equity is the lock-in.
Watch for a CrowdStrike branding announcement before the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November, likely tied to a multi-year title sponsorship that folds Kurtz's equity into a broader commercial package. Team sources expect the deal structure to mirror Oracle Red Bull Racing's arrangement, where the sponsor is also a stakeholder. Separately, Wolff's sale opens the door for additional minority investors if Mercedes pursues a second technical partner in quantum computing or simulation, sectors where equity-plus-partnership deals are becoming standard. The team's next hire in commercial strategy will come from either a Silicon Valley growth fund or a sports advisory with tech clients.
Wolff's phone has been ringing since the Kurtz news leaked. Three family offices have inquired about similar arrangements.