Drive to survive brought a revolution in Formula 1 and changed the identity of the sport. Billionaire Tiger Woods now welcomes the F1 influencer and Drive to Survive celebrity to the Billionaire’s Club as Forbes releases the list of New Sports Billionaires of 2023. Both Tiger Woods and the F1 royalty owe the bump in their earnings to the massive commercialization of sports.

In this age where everything is being digitalized, sporting events are a major source of advertisement for brands to showcase themselves. As a result, the endorsement and sponsorship amounts have skyrocketed within this decade. Therefore, the Forbes Billionaire list, which was once filled with corporate tycoons and CEOs, is now showcasing athletes and team owners.

The recently released Forbes list of New Sports Billionaires in 2023 features athletes like Tiger Woods and team owner Toto Wolff. Tiger Woods is one of the two active athlete Billionaires. Tiger Woods made over $1,700,000,000 in endorsements and tournament winnings in the past three decades. However, some may be surprised to see Toto Wolff’s name up there.

Wolff founded his own capital venture firm in 1998. The Austrian also holds stakes in Mercedes and Aston Martin. Wolff joined Mercedes back in 2013 as CEO and partial owner. Ever since then, the team has skyrocketed and won 8 consecutive constructors titles. With the Mercedes CEO owning 33% of the stake combined with the recent success of Mercedes F1, it no longer looks like a surprise as to how Toto became a billionaire.

Nevertheless, another aspect of Toto Wolff’s success goes to Netflix’s series Drive to Survive. The overnight success of DTS gave Toto Wolff a celebrity-like status. The Docuseries had an immense effect on the Formula 1 team’s value and F1 is now the fastest-growing sport in the world.

Also Read: Toto Wolff Gives Mick Schumacher New Hope for His F1 Redemption at the Cost of Lewis Hamilton or George Russell

Looking at the trend, it might only be a couple of years before we start seeing many athletes like Woods and owners like Wolff in Forbes’s Top 100 billionaire list. However, for Toto Wolff to stay up there, Mercedes needs to start winning and finishing higher up in the constructors’ championship. Mercedes might’ve made a step forward but still are a long way off Red Bull.

Toto Wolff’s thoughts on Mercedes’ progress at the Australian GP

Mercedes’ car made a step forward in terms of both single-lap pace and long-run pace. However, it may be down to the fact that Albert Park is not very rear-dependent, and the rear downforce is where the Mercedes lacks. Toto Wolff suggested that the performance in Australia is not what their baseline needs to be. He wants the team to challenge Red Bulls and compete for the championship.

According to Formula1.com, Toto Wolff said, “I think we made a good step forward this weekend on both single lap and race pace. Is this where our baseline needs to be? I’m not sure. I think we maximized what we have. I think it was good to see we were racing Ferrari and Aston Martin, and we just need to consolidate that. And the more we learn about the car, and bring the upgrade packages, we can challenge the leaders more.”

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What do you make of Tiger Woods and Toto Wolff making it to the Sports Billionaire list of Forbes?