Mercedes group principal and part-owner Toto Wolff has offered 15% of his shareholding of the System 1 group to George Kurtz, the CEO and founding father of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
Mercedes mentioned the deal makes Kurtz a co-owner of the group that’s valued at $6 billion. Wolff was one among three equal homeowners alongside Mercedes-Benz and INEOS.
The deal was introduced forward of Saturday evening’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, the place Mercedes driver George Russell is the defending race winner.
Kurtz will grow to be know-how advisor to Mercedes, in addition to be part of the group’s strategic steering committee alongside Wolff, Mercedes-Benz chairman Ola Kallenius, and INEOS founder and chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Wolff will proceed as group principal and CEO.
“George’s background is uncommon in its breadth — he’s a racer, a loyal sporting ambassador for Mercedes-AMG, and an distinctive entrepreneur,” Wolff mentioned. “He understands each the calls for of racing and the realities of constructing and scaling know-how companies. That mixture brings particular perception that’s more and more related to the way forward for System 1.”
CrowdStrike turned a worldwide companion of Mercedes’ F1 group in 2019, however Kurtz’s buy into the possession group was his personally.
“Successful in racing and cybersecurity requires pace, precision, and innovation. Milliseconds matter. Execution counts. Information wins,” mentioned Kurtz. “Know-how is reshaping aggressive benefit and human functionality all over the place, together with motorsport. I’m excited to assist the group securely speed up ahead.”Commercial. Scroll to proceed studying.
Kurtz is taken into account a racer and has dabbled in sports activities automobile racing since 2016. He has class wins within the 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 Professional-Am, Twelve Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, Six Hours of the Glen, and he’s the two-time winner of each the Indianapolis 8 Hour and 24 Hours of Spa in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Kurtz received the 2023 SRO GT World Problem America Staff & Drivers’ Championship, the 2023 Mercedes-AMG Buyer Racing Championship Driver Class, and the 2023-24 Asia Le Mans LMP2 Championship.
