Motor racing-CrowdStrike founder Kurtz buys into Mercedes F1 team

By Alan Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) -CrowdStrike founder and chief executive George Kurtz has bought into the Mercedes Formula One team by taking 15% of the one-third stake held by principal Toto Wolff, both parties announced on Thursday.

No financial details were given for the personal acquisition but media reports last week said the deal valued the former champions at a record $6 billion.

Austrian Wolff, Mercedes-Benz and Jim Ratcliffe's petrochemicals giant Ineos each hold one-third stakes and the governance and leadership of the team will not be affected by Thursday's deal.

American Kurtz, who has competed at Le Mans and other endurance events in sportscars, will become the team's technology adviser and joins the strategic steering committee alongside Wolff, Mercedes-Benz chairman Ola Kaellenius and Ineos founder Ratcliffe.

He said all the other shareholders were fully aware of the transaction as it unfolded. 

Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike has been a team partner since 2019 with branding on the car and apparel.

$6 BILLION TEAM VALUATION EXPECTED TO GROW

Kurtz told reporters in a video call that the $6 billion valuation of the team was in line with the market and likely to grow with a young, fresh demographic attracted to the sport.

"We think there's a great opportunity to grow the sport, particularly in the U.S. and particularly within the technology space where we can bring more sponsors in," he said.

"I know the U.S. market, I know the technology players and technology has been and will continue to be a big part of this sport going into the future and the folks who can unlock technology will have the best performance advantage."

Mercedes won eight constructors' titles in a row from 2014-21 and are currently second overall behind champions McLaren, who also use the German manufacturer's engines.

Kurtz pointed to the number of female fans attracted to the sport and said the U.S. market remained relatively untapped despite the success of Netflix docu-series 'Drive to Survive' and Brad Pitt's F1 movie.

"It's a thriving business and from that standpoint if you have a thriving business with more market opportunity, particularly in the U.S., in my opinion you are going to see valuations grow," he added.

"Can it grow into something like the NBA or like the NFL? I think so. Which is why I invested." 

The entrepreneur indicated he could add other sports to a business portfolio that includes extensive real estate holdings:

"We're always looking at opportunities, we think sports is a great area. We like the NBA, we like hockey, we like many of the areas that we've touched on. It has to be the right opportunity and more importantly it's got to be with the right fit and team.

"But we are certainly open to other opportunities as they come up."    

Kurtz said he had total alignment with Wolff, subscribed to his leadership style and had been discussing taking a stake for several years. He was coy about the possibility of increasing it in future.

He ruled out, however, one day taking on a greater role and perhaps replacing Wolff at the helm: "My focus is on CrowdStrike and it took me 14 years to build this up. That's where my day job lies," he said. "Toto is the guy in charge, he's the leader."

(Reporting by Alan BaldwinEditing by Toby Davis)