8. Toto Wolff

Torger Christian “Toto” Wolff, an Austrian billionaire motorsports executive, businessman, and former racer was born on January 12, 1972. He is the Team Principal and CEO of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and owns a 33% share.

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Toto was born into a modest family in Vienna, Austria. He got his first taste of motorsport when he was 17 and went to the Nürburgring to watch a friend race. He then had a brief career in racing of his own. At the 1994 Nürburgring 24 Hours, he won his class while competing in Austrian Formula Ford.

Toto stopped racing just three years after he started. He went into business and found a new way to use his skills: investment. After attending the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Toto started an investment company in 1998 called Marchfifteen. In 2004, he started another company called Marchsixteen.

During the “tech boom” of the 1990s, the business first focused on internet and technology companies. Later, it made smart investments in medium-sized industrial companies and listed companies.

One of these investments was in HWA AG, which developed and raced Mercedes-Benz cars for the DTM (German Touring Car Championship) and was in charge of Mercedes-successful Benz’s Formula 3 engine program. In 2015, Toto sold his shares in HWA AG.

Toto established a new company in 2002. He founded a business to promote racing drivers with Mika Hakkinen, a two-time Formula One World Champion. The next year, Toto returned to racing and claimed one victory en route to finishing sixth in the FIA GT World Championship. In 2006, Toto had more success when he won the top overall prize at the 24 Hours of Bahrain.

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Wolff made an investment in the Williams F1 Team in November 2009 because he enjoyed racing and wanted to make money. When Williams won their first race in eight years at the Spanish Grand Prix that year, Toto had become the team’s Executive Director by July.

After investing 30% in Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. less than a year later, Toto was appointed managing partner of the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team in January 2013.

After that, Toto was named Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport at the end of 2013. He took over full responsibility for the Mercedes-Benz motorsport program, from Formula One to Formula E, sports cars, and the Formula 3 engine program.

Toto Wolff is an entrepreneur, an investor, and a racer, so racing is in his blood. Under his direction, the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team has won 92 Grands Prix and six consecutive Formula One Double World Championships.

Wolff’s net worth is projected to be CHF 1.25 billion as of 2022.