THE future of Christian Horner’s Formula One career continues to hang in the balance amid bombshell allegations about his workplace conduct.
The Red Bull Racing chief, 50, is awaiting the verdict of bosses after being accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a female colleague and sending “sexually suggestive” texts.
Christian, who has categorically denied all claims, was put through an eight-hour grilling as part of an independent investigation and his fate will reportedly be decided within 10 days.
It risks ending his 19-year career with Red Bull Racing, where he’s paid in excess of £8million a year, and putting a sizeable dent in the fortune earned by him and his ex-Spice Girl wife Geri.
The couple have netted tens of millions of pounds over the years, with a fortune of at least £50million, which has afforded them an enviable and comfortable country lifestyle.
From £2.4million in rental properties to a horseracing firm and royalties, we look into Geri and Christian Horner’s finances.
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£8M Red Bull salary
Red Bull boss Christian is believed to be the highest-paid team principal in F1 and began working for them in 2005 .
Company accounts reports, which span between 2011 and 2022, show the F1 boss has been paid a staggering £40.2million over that 11-year period.
His 2022 pay from Red Bull was listed at £8,044,000, which was almost £3million higher than the £5,085,000 salary he bagged a year earlier.
It’s an impressive hike from his £1,343,000 salary back in 2011.
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Popstar fortune
Geri amassed a staggering fortune from her time as both a solo artist and a member of the Spice Girls, who remain the best-selling female group in history.
Her popstar earnings were paid in Wonderful Productions Limited, which was set up in 1997 – one year before the singer left the band.
During the company’s first three years of trading, it reported a £13.1million turnover and that she paid herself £8.9million.
No pay disclosures were reported by her in accounts between 2001 and 2018. Figures suggest the firm entered a non-trading phase between 2009 and 2012.
Geri bagged £2.2million in pay following the return of the Spice Girls – minus Victoria Beckham – in 2019, reportedly for just six gigs.
The bombshell claims that have rocked F1
F1 was rocked earlier this month by the sudden news that Christian Horner had been placed under investigation by Red Bull’s Austria-based parent company.
This was thought to be over a “dossier of incriminating material” regarding “inappropriate and controlling behaviour” towards one female, The Telegraph reported.
Red Bull’s Austrian parent company flew an independent lawyer to the UK to question the multi-millionaire race ace and his accuser.
The former racing driver, who runs world champion Max Verstappen’s all-conquering Red Bull team, endured an eight-hour grilling over the claims last week.
Most recently however, more allegations have come out as the De Telegraaf reported that Horner allegedly sent sex messages to his employee “over an extended period of time”.
Messages were said to have been saved and presented as evidence to the external barrister running the inquiry after the woman made a complaint last December.
Mr Horner categorically denied the new allegations and is thought to be taking legal action against De Telegraaf.
An F1 source told The Sun last week that “Christian has not been sacked or asked to resign and he is not going to resign”.
The investigation raises the question of who could take over the helm of the all-conquering racing team of world champion Max Verstappen.
His wife Geri Halliwell is also said to be “terrified her life will unravel” amid Horner’s “inappropriate behaviour” probe.
The ex-Spice Girl, who was “in floods of tears” when the Red Bull boss was hit with the bombshell allegations, fears the drama will drag on for years, a source has claimed.
But Geri, 51, is understood to be standing by her husband.
She has told pals: “Christian has done nothing wrong.”
Horner has overseen a huge period of success for the racing team – winning multiple F1 championships with Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen.
Red Bull has won seven Formula One world drivers’ championships and six world constructors’ titles under Horner’s leadership.
Last season, the team won 21 of the 22 races on the global F1 tour, and Verstappen, 26, won the drivers’ crown.
Horner was awarded a CBE for services to motorsport in the 2024 New Year’s Honours List
The Daily Mail reported that the firm was worth £3million the following year and she paid herself £1million from the company.
The paper also claims Wonderful Productions made £152,000 profit in 2022 and Geri paid herself £762,240 that year.
Last year’s accounts showed losses of £77,994 but held reserves of nearly £1.4million.
Geri also has the firm Falcon Queen Limited, which was set up in May 2021 to provide “business support activities”. All shares are owned by Wonderful Productions.
According to the Mail, Falcon Queen Limited made losses of £75,521 last year and plunged £276,000 into the red.
Geri is still believed to receive earnings for Spice Girls Limited – a joint venture between her, Victoria, Mel B, Mel C and Emma Bunton.
Media ventures
Alongside music, the singer has had successful stints as an author.
Geri released two autobiographies – If Only, which became a best-seller in 1999 and sold more than a million copies in the UK alone, and Just For The Record three years later.
In 2008, she released a six-part children’s series called Ugenia Lavender, which sold 250,000 copies in its first five months.
Last year, Geri released her latest children’s book Rosie Frost And The Falcon Queen.
Her earnings have been topped up over the years by other media work including a stint as a judge on The X Factor in 2011 and 2012 and Australia’s Got Talent in 2013.
She also made cameos in TV shows including Sex And The City, US show Extra and appeared in the films Spice World, Crank: High Voltage and Gran Turismo.
Horseracing empire
The Horners have a number of race horses, all of whom are named after Geri’s songs and covers including It’s Raining Men, Look At Mee, Lift Me Up and Mi Chico Latino.
Among the most successful is Lift Me Up, an eight-year-old male who was born in 2016 and cost £28,000.
The horse, real name Hector, was lined up as a potential Cheltenham Festival hopeful but hasn’t run since last May.
Lift Me Up, who has raced at least twice, earned the couple £2,361.18 in prize money for winning a race in front of 70,000 punters, according to the British Horseracing Authority.
Christian Horner’s life and career
CHRISTIAN Horner is among the most well-known names in Formula One having helped build Red Bull into one of the biggest teams in the sport.
1973 – Born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
1991 – Wins a Formula Renault scholarship after impressing in karting races
1993-1997 – Competed in a host of competitions including British Formula Three, British Formula Two, and Formula 3000
1997 – Founded and developed the F3000 team Arden
1999 – Retired from driving and continued developing the Arden team
2005 – Appointed head of Red Bull team, becoming the youngest ever team principal at that time
2009 – Wins his first races as team principal with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber
2010 – Wins the Constructors’ Championship and Drivers’ Championship with Vettel – the first of four doubles in a row
2013 – Has a daughter with ex-wife Beverly Allen shortly before the couple split
2014 – Gets engaged to Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell
2015 – Marries Halliwell in Woburn, Bedfordshire
2017 – Horner and Halliwell welcome their son
2021 – Wins another Drivers’ Championship with Max Verstappen, pipping Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the season
2022-23 – Red Bull win the Drivers’ Championship and Constructors’ Championship two years in a row
Last month, Geri revealed Hope – named Look At Mee after the singer’s 1999 solo hit – had her first race and finished fifth.
The couple owns a horseracing company called OMBI, which was set up in 2021, and lists the nature of its business as “activities of racehorse owners”.
Its latest accounts, for the year ended 30 June 2022, showed they held £113,378 in “biological assets” – believed to refer to the horses – and £400,000 worth of goods.
The company retained £68,852 in funds after bills were deducted.
Last year, work finished on a 14-horse stable, including two foaling stalls, at their Oxfordshire home and ex-jockey Maxine Filby was hired to run the yard.
Christian told The Telegraph his passion for horses was “just a bit of fun” and “escapism away from the madness of F1”.
He said: “We don’t really know what we’re doing but it’s exciting. It’s something Geri and I both get a kick out of and something we enjoy as a family.”
Rental properties
Away from the equine world, the couple also have a buy-to-let business named Estelle Ward, which was set up in 2021.
It’s listed as the owner of a £2.1million flat in Highgate, North London, according to Land Registry.
The latest accounts for Estelle Ward lists property assets of £2.4million with a £1.6million ‘loan facility’, which the couple pays interest on at 1 per cent above the Bank of England base rate.
As of November 2022, the firm reported a £6,455 deficit – as a result of the loan and other bills.
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The couple also owns two stunning mansions, in Hertfordshire and Banbury, Oxfordshire, which boast swimming pools, a boating lake and a farm.
The latter is a luxury estate that has an indoor pool inside a converted barn, stables for their horses as well as pens for their other farm animals and sprawling country grounds.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
