Monisha takes stake in Sauber

Sauber Group chief executive officer Monisha Kaltenborn has taken a one third stake in the Sauber Group.

Sauber's official press release described the move as one that was in the interests of continuity, with Sauber team principal [who is also the President of the Board of Directors of all Sauber Group companies] Peter Sauber retaining a two thirds stake.

“When BMW pulled out of Formula One in 2009, Monisha Kaltenborn was instrumental in the team’s survival and since then she has been doing outstanding work in her capacity as CEO,” Peter Sauber said in the press release on their official website.

“Transferring one third of the stake to her represents an important step for me in providing continuity. My desire is to ensure that the company continues to be led as I would want over the long term. Monisha Kaltenborn and my son Alex, who joined the company as Marketing Director in 2010 and has since also been a member of the Board of Management, both embrace this aim. It means we can offer our employees a positive outlook for the future.”

Following the announcement Monisha Kaltenborn added: “For me this step is a mark of the greatest possible trust, which I will do everything in my power to justify.”

The move means that Monisha now becomes one of the most prominent women in world motorsport.

Monisha Kaltenborn Profile

Born in India, Monisha's family emigrated to Vienna when she was a child and she took Austrian citizenship.

She went on to study a Law degree at the University of Vienna and then a masters degree in International Business Law at the London School of Economics.

After the completion of he studies she worked for Gleiss Lutz in Germany and this was where she met Jens Kaltenborn, who she later married and has two children with, they now live close to the Sauber factory in Switzerland.

In 2000 she was head of Sauber's legal department and a year later she joined the Management Board.

Following BMW's withdrawal from the team in 2010 she was appointed as chief executive officer and in 2012 she was made part-owner.