Ron Dennis has resigned following an ultimatum by shareholders who said he must give up his position as chairman and chief executive of McLaren Group. The coup against Dennis has been building in the recent weeks after discontent within the boardroom with other investors.
The self-styled team boss has been suspended for the remainder of his two month contract after Dennis unsuccessfully tried to seek a High Court injunction to prevent a move from taking place. Dennis owns 25% of the team along with business partner Mansour Ojjeh with the majority shareholder being the Bahraini investment fund Mumtalakat. Mumtalakat and Ojjeh have been trying to oust Dennis following a fall out.
Reports of the coup have built up over recent weeks after news broke that his contract will not be renewed. Dennis has overseen ten drivers’ championship wins with Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and Lewis Hamilton and seven constructors’ championships.
A statement from Dennis said “I am disappointed that the representatives of TAG and Mumtalakat, the other main shareholders in McLaren, have forced through this decision to place me on gardening leave, despite the strong warnings from the rest of the management team about the potential consequences of their actions on the business.”
“The grounds they have stated are entirely spurious; my management style is the same as it has always been and is one that has enabled McLaren to become an automotive and technology group that has won 20 Formula One world championships and grown into an £850 million a year business.”
Dennis who oversaw the teams success during the 1980’s and 90’s is not seen by the shareholders as the man to rebuild the team. But Dennis says he will use his “significant shareholding in both companies and my seats on both boards to protect the interests and value of McLaren and help shape its future.”
He remains on the board of both MTG and McLaren Automotive Ltd, and a significant shareholder in both companies. Dennis says that he will launch an investment fund for technology when his contract expires in mid-January.
As well as his success in F1 Dennis has overseen the growth of the team into the McLaren Group. The group made up of a road car division and applied technology as well as its F1 team.
Thoughts now turn to his successor with a number of people including marketing boss Zak Brown and former F1 boss Ross Brawn linked to his job. There are outsiders the team principal Eric Boullier, Ferrari’s former technical director James Allison and CEO Jost Capito, who could be ousted himself weeks after joining the team.
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