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Ron Dennis Leaves McLaren After 37 Years

For those that don’t follow Formula One, the name Ron Dennis may not mean anything to you. In fact, even those who have a passing knowledge in cars may not be too familiar with Mr. Dennis, as his name doesn’t immediately evoke legendary images of cars like Enzo Ferrari or Lee Iacocca.

Regardless, Ron Dennis has been a driving force behind one of Formula One’s most successful teams of all time and has been responsible for such classic cars as the McLaren F1. As of today, it has been reported that Dennis has severed all remaining ties with McLaren, selling his 25% stake in McLaren Technology and 11% stake in McLaren Automotive.

During his time with McLaren, Dennis has rubbed shoulders with some of the sport’s greats, including one Ayrton Senna. Under Dennis’ leadership, McLaren entered a period of total domination in Formula One, winning 15 out of 16 races in 1988 and giving Senna his first title.

In addition to success on the track, Dennis was also instrumental in the development of the McLaren F1 (designed by Gordon Murray), the first road car to use a carbon fiber body and a former holder of the “world’s fastest production car.”

A boardroom shakeup led to Dennis being ousted from his role as CEO last November. With Dennis’ departure from his role, Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa will become Mclaren Group’s new executive chairman, with Mike Flewitt remaining as the head of McLaren Automotive.

The departure appears to be amicable, as reports suggest that Dennis will be compensated around $355 million. Dennis says:

“I have always said that my 37 years at Woking should be considered as a chapter in the McLaren book, and I wish every success as it takes the story forward.”

Tony Hsieh

Cars, the Buffalo Bills, video games, comics, sandwiches, jelly beans, and the shooting star press; these are the things that Tony loves (in addition to his family, of course). When he's not spending his time writing tech reviews for theslanted.com, Tony puts his lifetime love of muscle cars to use on his 2015 Mustang GT. Tony's top three favorite cars are the 1973 Mustang Mach 1, Ferrari 458, and Aston Martin DBS.

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