The five top billionaires in F1 as Toto Wolff net worth skyrockets

Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff has cemented his position as a billionaire after seeing his net worth skyrocket.

The 52-year-old Austrian was declared a billionaire for the first time in 2023 by business magazine Forbes, who have now published the annual World’s Billionaires List for 2024.

Wolff, who owns a 33% stake in the Mercedes F1 team, has been listed with a real time net worth of $1.6billion (£1.27billion).

It marks a net worth rise of a whopping $600million in the last 12 months.

F1’s top five billionaires:

• Larry Ellison - £112billion ($141billion) 
• Carlos Slim Helu - £81.1billion ($102.2billion)
• Mark Mateschitz - £30.9billion ($38.9billion)
• Piero Ferrari - £6.84billion ($8.6billion)
• Lawrence Stroll - £3.1billion ($3.9billion)

While Wolff is not enjoying much on-track success at the minute amid Mercedes’ ongoing competitive struggles, he is certainly making up for it away from the circuit.

Wolff recently insisted he hasn’t got the “choice” to leave Mercedes when questioned about his future as team principal.

"The big difference is it's not like the manager question in terms of, this is my job, I'll stop the job and then somebody else is doing the job and I'll go to Chelsea or to Liverpool, or over to Ferrari,” he said after Mercedes’ nightmare weekend at the Australian Grand Prix.

"I haven't got that choice, which is also unfortunate. I'm not a contractor or employee that says, 'I've had enough of this’.

"My hamster wheel keeps spinning and I can't jump out."

Several other F1-related figures also feature in Forbes’ billionaire list, including Larry Ellison, chairman, CEO and cofounder of software giant Oracle, who are Red Bull's title sponsors.

Ellison is the fifth richest person in the world. 

Carlos Slim Helu is Mexico's richest person and the billionare backer who has supported much of Sergio Perez's career. He is the 14th richest person in the world. 

Mark Mateschitz, the son of late Red Bull founder Dietrich, sits 33rd in the world as of today (3/4/2024).

Ferrari vice chairman Piero Ferrari, the son of legendary founder Enzo, comes in at 295 in the world, while Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll is 809th.

Despite not being directly involved in F1 since being removed from his position as CEO in 2017, and having agreed a civil settlement to repay almost £653m to HMRC, Bernie Ecclestone retains billionaire status.