How Horner, Brown and Wolff made fortunes from F1: three different routes

Formula 1 has seen a huge rise in value over the past decade. Teams that once relied on wealthy owners constantly pumping in cash have become sports businesses valued in the billions of dollars. Christian Horner, Zak Brown and Toto Wolff, among the most influential figures in that transformation, have all earned enormous sums. But the latest team accounts published in Britain show the three took their slice of the pie in entirely different ways.

Horner: A highly paid employee

According to Red Bull Technology's 2025 accounts, the highest-paid director, understood to be Horner, received £66.988 million in compensation for loss of office plus £9.029 million in pay. The total package comes to about £76 million. Some reports added a £33.494 million item from the Red Bull Racing accounts, putting the figure above £100 million. However, because the group accounts also cover Red Bull Racing, that amount should not be counted twice.

Horner founded the Arden team in Formula 3000 and, at the end of 2004, aged 31, considered buying Jordan but lacked the necessary capital. When Dietrich Mateschitz bought Jaguar and turned it into Red Bull Racing, Horner was put in charge. Under the deal, instead of a high salary he would receive a bonus for every point scored. Jaguar had scored 9 points the previous season; Red Bull reached 34 points in its first year. Under Horner, the team won six constructors' and eight drivers' championships, yet he remained an employee of a company owned by someone else.

Brown earned through an incentive plan, Wolff through ownership

McLaren Racing's accounts show its highest-paid director received £81.897 million in 2025. Of that, £8.215 million was pay and £73.682 million came from a long-term incentive plan. The individual is reported to be Zak Brown. McLaren Racing, which faced serious financial difficulties during the pandemic, was valued at about £3.5 billion in a transaction five years later.

Toto Wolff, by contrast, is a co-owner of the team he runs. With INEOS's arrival, Mercedes F1 was split equally among Mercedes-Benz, INEOS and Wolff's investment company. The team paid out £125 million in dividends in 2025; a one-third stake would equate to about £42 million on a pro-rata basis. CrowdStrike founder George Kurtz acquired 15% of Wolff's company, giving him roughly 5% of the team. The deal reportedly valued the team at about $6 billion, with Wolff receiving around $300 million. At the same valuation, Wolff's remaining stake of about 28.3% is estimated to be worth around $1.7 billion.

This picture also explains Horner's new goal. Horner says he sat on the pit wall for 21 years as a "paid employee" and now wants to return to F1 only as a partner.