Christian Horner to lose staggering amount of his £80m Red Bull payout straight away

Christian Horner was sacked by Red Bull after almost 20 years in charge of the Formula One team, and will now have to part ways with a significant chunk of his £80million payout

Christian Horner is set to lose a whopping £36million of his £80m Red Bull payout to income tax. The 51-year-old was unexpectedly axed as team principal and chief executive in July after nearly two decades at the helm of the Formula One team.

In that time, he had led them to eight drivers’ championships and six constructors’ championships. It took two months for Horner and Red Bull to agree on the terms of his departure, despite him being dismissed with immediate effect.

Alongside the official announcement of his exit this week, it emerged that Horner would receive an eye-watering £80m from the termination of his contract, which was due to run until 2030. But despite securing a hefty settlement, Horner will have to part ways with nearly half of that sum.

Fortunately for Horner – who appears to be a UK tax resident – severance, redundancy and other termination payments are not seen as earnings and are completely exempt from employee National Insurance contributions. The first £30,000 of a severance payment is also typically free from income tax.

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However, tax expert Nicole Zalys from Money Squirrel, also known as The London Accountant on TikTok, told the Express that the 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 Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the form of a huge £36m tax bill. It means Horner will walk away with just £44m.

Despite the obvious setback, the windfall will more than double his net worth from approximately £40m to around £85m. That figure is also three times the net worth of his wife, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell.

Horner confirmed his official exit 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.”

Horner added: “I wish Laurent [Mekies], Max [Verstappen], Yuki [Tsunoda] 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].”