Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff buys a stake in Aston Martin
Toto Wolff, the head of the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team, has just bought a stake in Aston Martin, the British car company. He also owns 30 per cent of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team, with this investment in Aston Martin coming out of his personal holdings. He has managed to pick up shares worth 4.77 per cent of the entire company but this will get diluted to just 0.95 per cent after a rights offering that is set to happen next week.
Toto Wolff, in the past, has been an active investor as he has got funding for F1 teams to the likes of Williams as well as Mercedes AMG. Wolff will join fellow F1 paddock mate Lawrence Stroll, who owns the Racing Point Formula 1 team, and just a few months back picked up 16 per cent of Aston Martin and has made an agreement with Aston Martin to make it an F1 works team for the 2021 season. A Mercedes F1 spokesperson said Wolff’s deal was purely an investment and he still remains committed to his role at Mercedes.
Mercedes-Benz‘ parent company Daimler also owns a small stake in Aston Martin. The British sports car maker sources are a lot of parts such as electronics and power units from Mercedes-Benz, hence the brand has played a vital role in the turnaround of the entire product line for Aston Martin.
It will be quite interesting to see how the turnaround of Aston Martin shapes up during these troubled times, when the entire automotive industry is facing a crisis due to the COVID-19/ coronavirus pandemic. But given Toto Wolff and Lawrence Stroll's track records, things should shape up for the better.
