Toto Wolff

Early life

Wolff was born on 12 January 1972 in Vienna to a Polish mother and a Romanian father. Wolff was educated in a French school in Vienna despite not coming from a wealthy family. Wolff's father was diagnosed with brain cancer when Wolff was 8 years old. His parents separated following his father's diagnosis. His father died of the disease ten years later.

Motorsport

Wolff started his motorsport career in 1992 in the Austrian Formula Ford Championship, driving in Austrian and German Formula Ford in 1993 and 1994. In 1994, he won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in his category. In 2002 Wolff finished in sixth place in the N-GT category in the FIA GT Championship and won one race. He switched to the Italian GT Championship in 2003, winning a race in 2004 with Lorenzo Case, while also teaming with Karl Wendlinger in the FIA GT Championship. Wolff was runner up in the Austrian Rally Championship in 2006, and winner of the 24-hour race in Dubai. Wolff has also served as an instructor at the Walter Lechner Racing School and in 2009 became a lap-record holder on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in a Porsche RSR .

Investor

Wolff founded investment companies Marchfifteen (1998) and Marchsixteen (2004), both of which initially focused on internet and technology company investments.

Since 2003, Wolff has concentrated on strategic investments in medium-sized industrial and listed companies. Investments include the German HWA AG, in which Wolff bought a 49% stake in 2006 listing the company on the stock exchange in 2007. The company runs the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters race program for Mercedes Benz, developing F3 engines and the Gullwing Mercedes Benz SLS GT3 racing car.

Other investments include BRR Rallye Racing, one of the largest rally parts dealers in Europe. Wolff is also co-owner of a sports management company with Mika Häkkinen and was involved in the management of racing drivers such as Bruno Spengler, Alexandre Premat and Valtteri Bottas.

Formula One

In 2009, Wolff bought a share of the Williams Formula One Team and joined the board of directors. In 2012, he was named executive director of WilliamsF1.

In January 2013, Wolff left WilliamsF1 to become an executive director of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, with his business partner Rene Berger becoming non-executive director. In addition to joining the team, he also acquired 30% of Mercedes Grand Prix. Wolff took over the co-ordination of all Mercedes-Benz motorsport activities, a responsibility previously held by Norbert Haug. In 2014, Wolff sold 10% of Williams to American businessman Brad Hollinger. On 9 March 2016, Wolff sold his remaining 5% shares in the Williams team.

As co-owner of both WilliamsF1 (where wife Susie worked as a test driver, until November 2015) and Mercedes Grand Prix, Wolff could celebrate among numerous podiums and successes for both teams, a 1–2–3–4 finish at Spielberg, Austria in his 'home race', as well as at Monza, Italy in both Qualifying and Race classifications.

Philanthropy

Wolff is Vice Chairman of the Mary Bendet Foundation, founded in memory of a school friend who was a role model for an entire generation of friends. Her spirit lives on through the Foundation, which strives to make life better for underprivileged children. Its projects include improving living conditions in day-care centre, dormitories and playgrounds; creating joyful environments such as rehearsal studios; supporting talent by sponsoring scholarships; and inaugurating centres for blind and handicapped children to better prepare them for life in everyday society.

Personal life

Wolff lives with his wife, the Scottish racer Susie Wolff (née Stoddart) in Ermatingen at Lake Constance in Switzerland. On 11 April 2017, Susie announced on Twitter that she had given birth to their first child, a baby boy named Jack Wolff, the previous day.

Wolff speaks fluent German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Polish. He has two children from a previous marriage, Benedict (14) and Rosa (12).