Soros fund managers have been quietly pouring money into F1 for years, but the first of their big bets on the sport in 2018 looks set to be the biggest ever.
With just over one year to go until the opening of the 2017 season, the fund’s investment arm has already committed $200m to Formula 1, and now the investment arm is looking to take another step towards the sport’s big-name sponsors.
The fund’s main investor, a French company called Soros Invest, is the first major sponsor to commit to Formula One and is one of the biggest in Europe.
It is owned by billionaire French investor Paul Laurence Soros, who is also the founder of French telecommunications group Cogent.
“Soros is the biggest sports company in Europe,” Soros said.
“The Soros Investment fund is one the top sports funds in Europe and has a very big future ahead.”
The Soro Fund has already made its money from F1.
In 2017, the investment group took a €4.5bn (£4.2bn) bet on F1, the most in a single year, and the biggest bet of all time.
In total, the Soros group bet more than €400m on F2 and F3.
“This is the most successful sports fund in Europe, which has seen significant investment by its investors and is a very important asset for the Soro fund,” Soro said.
The Sorosh funds investment arm, which owns more than a dozen businesses in F1’s biggest European markets, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain, has a huge network of financial advisers in the sport.
Soros invested in a number of Formula One teams and has invested in Formula One-related projects in Australia and New Zealand, with its first investment coming in 2017.
It also has a long history of investments in Formula 1.
Soros has been looking to raise more money for Formula 1 for some time, with a previous investment of €3bn in the team Red Bull in 2018.
“It’s a very well-known fund, it has been investing for many years and has proven its value, but it also has to be noted that the funds investment is not only based on its own value but also based on other investment opportunities in the market,” Sorosi said.
“Its not only in Formula1 but in other industries.”
While Formula One is the richest sport in the globe, the sport has been struggling financially, with losses of more than $20bn (£13bn) since 2009.
It has also seen an exodus of top stars, with F1 having had to sell several drivers in recent years to secure the future of a championship that is a big draw for fans.
