Ron Dennis quits as McLaren team chief after boardroom power struggle forces him out
Outspoken head of British team falls on his sword after losing the backing of majority shareholders
RON DENNIS has been forced to quit McLaren.
SunSport reported on Saturday that the 69-year-old was set for the axe after falling out with the company's shareholders.
Dennis, who owns 25 percent of the group, has come under pressure from businessman Mansour Ojjeh and Bahrain's Mumtalakat investment fund, who own the remaining shares.
Dennis has been at McLaren for almost 36-years and is responsible for turning them into one of the most successful and profitably teams.
He also oversaw the establishment of their road car project and the McLaren Applied Technologies division.
However, after failing to overturn a decision to place him on gardening leave, last night at a board meeting he was unanimously was ordered to quit his role.
Dennis had hoped to regain control of the group with a £1.6billion takeover with the funds from a Chinese consortium yet the board blocked the move.
The news is a huge blow to Dennis, who has worked with TAG owner Ojjeh since 1990 and until recently had the full backing of the Bahrainis.
It means he will be forced to leave his office at the team's plush HQ in Woking before the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
Last night, Dennis was bitter about being ousted from his own company, with the majority shareholders criticising his management style.
He 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.
"Throughout that time I have worked closely with a series of talented colleagues to keep McLaren at the cutting edge of technology, to whom I will always be extremely grateful.
"Ultimately it has become clear to me through this process that neither TAG nor Mumtalakat share my vision for McLaren and its true growth potential.
"But my first concern is to the business I have built and to its 3,500 employees."
Defiant Dennis says he will not sell his 25 percent stake in the group and also says he will start his own technology group when he has served his gardening leave in mid-January.
He added: "I will continue to use my significant shareholding in both companies and my seats on both boards to protect the interests and value of McLaren and help shape its future.
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"In addition I intend to launch a new technology investment fund once my contractual commitments with McLaren expire.
"This will capitalise on my expertise, my financial resources, together with external investment to pursue the many commercial opportunities I have been offered in recent years but have been unable to take up while being so committed to the existing business."