McLaren chief Ron Dennis to leave company when contract expires

Chairman and CEO of McLaren Group is understood to be departing before the start of 2017 after 36 years with the division

McLaren Technology Group CEO Ron Dennis won’t have his contract renewed when it expires at the end of this year but he will remain chairman at McLaren Automotive, according to Autosport.

The 69-year-old Briton’s departure from the McLaren Technology Group would end a 36-year relationship with the Formula 1 team and also leave the role of CEO vacant.

The McLaren group is made up of McLaren Racing, McLaren Marketing and McLaren Applied Technologies. The brand’s car division, McLaren Automotive, isn't part of the group, and therefore wouldn't be affected by a leadership change. A spokesman for the division told Autocar that despite the fact Dennis owns 10% of Automotive, he has no day-to-day involvement with the arm. The company is run by CEO Mile Flewitt.

But Autocar’s sister site Autosport reported that Dennis, who owns 25% of the McLaren Technology Group, wanted to purchase an additional 50% of the group from the Bahraini sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and 25% from his business partner Mansour Ojjeh, but failed to raise the capital by the required deadlines.

McLaren told Autosport “[Ron Dennis] remains contracted as chairman and CEO of McLaren Technology Group, and he retains a 25% shareholding in the Group - exactly equal to that of Mansour Ojjeh.

"Over many years, many decades in fact, McLaren shareholders have often entered into dialogue on the subject of potential equity movements and realignments, and Ron and Mansour have always been central to those discussions.

"That is still the case. Their recent conversations can therefore be categorised as 'more of the same'.”

However, the company added “it would be inappropriate to reveal further details of such discussions,” meaning the news of Dennis’s departure could still stand.