Zak Brown is an American motorsport executive and the CEO of McLaren Racing, the role he has held since 2018. He oversaw McLaren's return to the front of Formula 1 and its back-to-back Constructors' Championships in 2024 and 2025. ¹

He was born Zakary Challen Brown on 7 November 1971 in Los Angeles, California. ¹

“In 1997 he finished second in class in both the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours in a Porsche.”

Racing career

Brown began karting in 1986, winning numerous races before progressing through Formula Ford, Formula Opel-Lotus and British Formula 3, and into sportscars. In 1997 he finished second in class in both the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours in a Porsche. He continued racing intermittently while building his business career. ¹

Just Marketing International

In 1995 Brown founded Just Marketing International (JMI), which grew into the largest motorsport marketing agency in the world, appeared repeatedly on the Inc. 500 list and brokered major sponsor deals across the grid. JMI was acquired by CSM/Chime in 2013 for around $76 million, with Brown staying on as CEO before leaving in 2016 to focus on McLaren. ¹²

United Autosports

In 2009 Brown co-founded the sportscar team United Autosports with Richard Dean. The squad has won multiple championships and major endurance races, including LMP2-class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona. ³

McLaren

Brown joined McLaren in 2016 as Executive Director of McLaren Technology Group and became CEO of McLaren Racing in 2018. As CEO he holds overall responsibility for the business, including strategic direction, operational performance, marketing and commercial development across all of McLaren's race teams. ⁴ He inherited a struggling, loss-making operation and led its commercial and structural revival, rebuilding the sponsorship base and backing Andrea Stella's rise to team principal. ⁵ Under his leadership McLaren won the Constructors' Championship in 2024 and 2025, with Norris taking the drivers' crown. ¹

Expanding McLaren Racing

Brown has diversified McLaren into a multi-discipline group. He took the team into IndyCar, taking majority control of Arrow McLaren and contesting the Indianapolis 500; entered the F1 Academy and broadened the driver-development pipeline; built the McLaren Shadow esports operation; and ran spells in Formula E and Extreme E. In April 2025 McLaren announced a 2027 entry into the FIA World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class, developed with Brown's United Autosports. ⁴⁶

Ownership & recognition

In September 2025 McLaren Racing came under full Middle-Eastern ownership at a roughly $5 billion valuation, with Bahrain's Mumtalakat fund and Abu Dhabi's CYVN Holdings buying out MSP Sports Capital and other minority investors. ⁷ Brown, who signed a long-term deal in 2024 keeping him CEO through 2030, received a TIME100 Impact Award in Abu Dhabi in December 2025 and published a book, Seven Tenths of a Second, marketed as an international bestseller. ⁸¹

Why he matters

Brown's value to McLaren has been less about race-engineering than about commercial revival, investment and recruitment: he rebuilt the team's finances, installed and backed Stella, and turned a near-crisis into one of motorsport's most valuable and diversified organisations. ⁵

Bottom line

Brown is a racer-turned-marketeer who converted a struggling McLaren into a multi-discipline winning organisation, capped by consecutive F1 Constructors' titles and a drivers' championship. He remains the commercial and strategic figurehead of McLaren Racing as it heads into Formula 1's new era. ¹⁴