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$540 Million Worth Toto Wolff Reveals Insane Rags to Riches Story to Becoming the Richest F1 Team Principal

Published 08/13/2022, 1:00 PM EDT

A mediocre racing career, followed by a set of business successes, brought Toto Wolff back into racing. Wolff is not just the Team Principal of the Mercedes F1 racing team but also owns one-third of the team. The new F1 team got onboard Niki Lauda and Wolff to create some magic. And magic they created!

Over the past few years, Toto Wolff has won 15 of the 16 F1 Championship he has contested. That is an incredible record. During this time, he has seen his reputation develop into one of the most famous sporting managers of a team. Although a bit of the credit goes to Netflix series Drive to Survive, Wolff has been known for his on-screen charm.

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Wolff, whose net worth is around $540 million, was not that well off during his childhood. His parents somehow arranged funds to ensure Toto and his sister’s education at the prestigious Lycée Français de Vienne. His father’s transport company went bust and Toto and his sister had to drop out.

“I was taken out of school because the tuition fees weren’t paid. I remember sitting in class in the afternoon and [being called] to the headmaster’s office. I go down, Lili sits in the foyer, and the headmaster said, ‘I’m sorry, you need to leave the school . . . Get your school bags.”

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“Everybody stares at me . . . and then I had to walk to the tram station and . . . explain to my 10-year-old sister what just happened,” Wolff recalls in an interview with Financial Times

Here is how Toto Wolff came into Formula 1

Wolff still has regrets about his racing career. He explained that part of the reason for his short stint was the lack of finances. After this, he went into banking and later opened his own investment firm during the 90s Tech boom.

Wolff explains with regret, “Rich people have it easy in our sport, but it doesn’t make them champions.”

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Years later, he built up a stake in the ailing Williams Racing team and the team saw their first win after 8 years.

Wolff insists that he has never felt like an outsider. As the day and the sport progresses, more people from different backgrounds would see what he saw at his early age. Toto also said that when the lights go out at the start of the race, “whatever your background, whatever your upbringing, that is irrelevant at that stage.”

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Are Female Drivers Allowed to Compete in F1?

One can argue that Toto Wolff’s journey from his struggles to F1 is as interesting as his accomplishments in the sport.

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Written by:

Aditya Pandit is a Formula 1 Author at EssentiallySports. Although he has done his undergrad in business from St Xavier's College, his love for sports has always encouraged him to take up different challenges along the way. In the past, he has worked with Indian Sports News and from time to time he also writes for his personal blog, 'Let's Talk Sports'.

Edited by:

Ranvijay Singh

$540 Million Worth Toto Wolff Reveals Insane Rags to Riches Story to Becoming the Richest F1 Team Principal

Here is how Toto Wolff came into Formula 1

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