Christian Horner to immediately lose £36m of stunning Red Bull pay off | F1 | Sport
Christian Horner will immediately lose a whopping £36million of his £80m Red Bull payout to income tax. The 51-year-old was abruptly sacked as team principal and chief executive in July after almost two decades in charge of the Formula One team. He oversaw huge success, including eight drivers’ championships and six constructors’ championships.
Despite being relieved of his duties with immediate effect, it has taken two months for Horner and Red Bull to reach an agreement over his exit. Alongside the official confirmation of his departure this week, it was revealed that Horner will be paid a staggering £80m for the termination of his contract, which was set to expire in 2030. But despite reaching a lucrative settlement, Horner will have to part ways with almost half of that sum.
Luckily for Horner – who appears to be a UK tax resident – severance, redundancy and other termination payments are not considered to be earnings and are fully exempt from employee National Insurance contributions. The first £30,000 of a severance payment is also typically exempt from income tax.
However, tax expert Nicole Zalys from Money Squirrel, also known as The London Accountant on TikTok, tells Express Sport that the vast majority of the British racing legend’s pay-off will be taxed at 45 per cent, which is the additional rate for high earners. That means around 45 per cent of the reported settlement will go to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the form of a huge £36m tax bill.
It means Horner will only take home £44m. Despite the obvious blow, the payout will more than double his net worth from the region of £40m to around £85m. That figure is also three times the value of his wife, former Spice Girl singer Geri Halliwell.
Horner confirmed his official departure with a statement via Red Bull, which read: “Leading Red Bull Racing has been an honour and privilege. When we started in 2005, none of us could have imagined the journey ahead – the championships, the races, the people, the memories.
“I am incredibly proud of what we achieved as a team breaking records and reaching heights no-one would ever believe were possible and I will forever carry that with me. However for me my biggest satisfaction has been assembling and leading the most amazing group of talented and driven individuals and seeing them flourish as a subsidiary of an Energy Drinks company and seeing them take on and beat some of the biggest automotive brands in the world.”
He added: “I wish Laurent, Max, Yuki and all of the Red Bull Technology Group the very best for the future. I am confident they will, as ever, deliver success on the track, for our fans, and continue to push to the maximum and I look forward to seeing the first Red Bull/Ford engine in the back of RB22 next year as well as the exciting RB17 [hypercar].”
