McLaren Racing Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri crossed the finish line at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday in third and fourth place respectively, cementing the team\u2019s second consecutive Constructors\u2019 Championship in the sport.<\/p>\n
One of the oldest teams in F1\u2019s 76-year history, McLaren has reportedly reached an estimated worth of a record $5 billion<\/a> under the leadership of CEO Zak Brown, topping Ferrari\u2019s estimated $4.8 billion valuation in 2024. Since joining McLaren in 2016, Brown has not only capitalized on F1\u2019s meteoric growth in the U.S.<\/a> to grow the team\u2019s sponsorship spending<\/a>, but has also helped McLaren take its first constructors\u2019 title since 1998.<\/p>\n Given the team\u2019s success, Brown\u2019s payday for 2025 will no doubt rival that of his 2024 compensation worth more than $50 million<\/a> (\u00a337.3 million). But before the McLaren boss was making eight figures in the rubber-burning world of F1, he made his first fortune spinning different wheels.\u00a0<\/p>\n Born in Los Angeles, Brown was a high-school dropout with aspirations only for a career in baseball, which fizzled alongside his formal education.<\/p>\n \u201cI was not a good student. I didn\u2019t go, and then when I did go, I got in trouble\u2014a lot of fighting,\u201d Brown said in an episode<\/a> of The Bottom Line podcast released in July. \u201cI actually broke my high school president\u2019s jaw in a fight. That\u2019s what got me thrown out at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n But during one of Brown\u2019s (self-admitted) few days he was at school in 1984, showrunners for American quiz show juggernaut Wheel of Fortune went in search of students for its Teen Week tapings. Brown became one of 15 kids to compete on the show<\/a>, and he won the first two rounds, taking with him a pair of watches as his winnings.<\/p>\n With an interest in F1 piqued after his family attended a race in 1981 and a family connection in motorsports, Brown used his newfound earnings to begin his racing career.<\/p>\n \u201cI went and turned around and sold those watches in a pawn shop, bought a go-kart. And that\u2019s how my racing career began,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t part of any sort of master plan. It\u2019s just how it all unfolded. So probably safe to say I\u2019m the only person in racing that has a resume that starts the Wheel of Fortune.\u201d<\/p>\n Recovery from being financially \u2018on the brink\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Brown\u2019s career in the driver\u2019s seat did not materialize with a drive in F1. He competed in British Formula Three, the Formula Opel-Lotus Benelux Series, and North America\u2019s Toyota<\/a> Atlantic Series the year he won Wheel of Fortune. But he eventually pivoted to the business side of the sport, founding his own marketing company Just Marketing Inc., using the connections he made in racing to chase sponsorships for himself and others.<\/p>\n By the time Brown sold a majority of the company in 2008 to Spire<\/a> Capital and Credit Suisse (Chime Communications bought the former in 2013), JMI was one of the biggest<\/a> global motorsport marketing agencies.<\/p>\n When Brown joined McLaren about a decade ago, the company was in need of Brown\u2019s business sensibilities. The team initially attributed some of its on-track struggles to a power unit problem, but when it switched engine manufacturers, problems persisted.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was an arrogance, a denial that once we swapped the power unit we were going to be back to McLaren,\u201d Brown told Fortune<\/a> in March. \u201cAnd when that didn\u2019t happen, it was pretty sobering.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n On top of juggling internal politics of company leadership, Brown was also contending with financial woes. At the end of 2020, following a pandemic-stricken F1 season, McLaren sold part of its team to MSP Sports Capital, an American sports investment group.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were definitely on the brink,\u201d Brown told The Athletic<\/a>. \u201cWe were paying all our bills\u2026But we were in a situation where if we didn\u2019t have a cash injection, we would have been a risk at (not) starting the year.<\/p>\n \u201cI needed to protect the team from them being aware so everyone could remain in the very positive, energetic spirits they were bringing because the team was progressing nicely,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a comfortable place at all.\u201d<\/p>\n A $235.8 million (\u00a3185 million) investment and the embrace of what Brown calls a \u201cno-blame culture<\/a>\u201d eventually gave McLaren what it needed to rev up its turnaround.<\/p>\n \u201cWe win and lose together, we back each other up, and we don\u2019t blame each other,\u201d Brown told Fortune. \u201cMistakes happen, and we learn from them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n