Cadillac's Formula 1 owner has moved to shut down speculation that the team could be sold as a federal investigation into billionaire Mark Walter's insurance and investment businesses puts growing scrutiny on his wider financial empire.
TWG Global, the holding company Walter founded and runs as chief executive alongside co-chairman Thomas Tull, said this week that neither the Cadillac F1 team nor its other motorsports interests are being considered for sale. Its subsidiary TWG Motorsport holds the controlling stake in the Cadillac operation.
Speaking at the Dutch Grand Prix on Thursday, Adrian Atkinson, executive director of General Motors global motorsports communications, read the statement before taking questions.
"TWG is not considering a sale of the Cadillac team or any other part of TWG Motorsport," the statement said.
The intervention followed increased speculation around Walter's sports holdings after his agreement to sell the Los Angeles Lakers at a reported US$12.5 billion valuation, around 14 months after acquiring control of the NBA franchise at a US$10 billion valuation. The sale, to a group led by Josh Kushner and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger, still requires NBA approval.
The news comes amid a broader story involving billions of dollars of investments held by companies within Walter's business network.
Prosecutors at the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating financial dealings involving Walter-linked businesses and two insurers, Delaware Life Insurance Company and Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company. A separate inquiry opened last year into Guggenheim Partners' asset management arm, where Walter is chief executive, remains ongoing.
The investigation is examining whether financial relationships were adequately disclosed as the insurers made private-credit investments connected with other parts of Walter's business empire.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 16 that prosecutors are focused on four businesses that acted as intermediaries between the insurers and other Walter-linked ventures. No criminal charges have been filed against Walter or the companies.
Both insurers received federal grand jury subpoenas in February. Subsequent internal reviews identified errors in how certain related-party investments had been identified and presented in financial disclosures.
Delaware Life ultimately disclosed roughly US$16 billion more in private-credit assets linked to affiliates than it had previously reported. Its related-party investments as of the end of 2025 were restated to at least US$17 billion, or at least 39% of invested assets, compared with the US$1.4 billion, or roughly 3%, previously reported.
The disclosures have since prompted a substantial restructuring of the insurer's investment portfolio.
TWG Global said this week that it had agreed to exchange up to US$6.5 billion of Delaware Life's investments in Walter-linked businesses for an equivalent amount of assets classified as unaffiliated, as the group responds to regulatory concerns over related-party exposure. Clear Spring separately reduced related-party transactions by $90 million. The insurers are working with the Delaware Department of Insurance on the remediation.
Group 1001, which includes Delaware Life and Clear Spring, has maintained that its insurance businesses remain financially strong. In a statement previously provided to Bloomberg, it said its "capital position and liquidity remain strong" and that financial strength ratings remained unchanged.
While core ratings have so far been maintained, major ratings agencies have taken a more cautious view of the companies following the disclosures.
AM Best on July 31 revised the outlooks for Delaware Life, Clear Spring Life and Annuity and Gainbridge Life Insurance Company to negative from positive while affirming their A- financial strength ratings, citing the reclassification of private-credit investments that lifted Delaware Life's affiliated holdings to 42% of invested assets from 3% at year-end 2025. It also moved the outlooks for several Group 1001 property and casualty subsidiaries to negative from stable, but for a separate reason: unfavorable reserve development in California workers' compensation.
Delaware Life currently lists A- financial strength ratings from AM Best, S&P Global and Fitch. Its outlook is negative at both AM Best and S&P, while Fitch has placed the insurer on Rating Watch Negative, putting its affiliated exposure at 40% of invested assets — the highest among the North American life insurers it rates. The insurer reported assets under management of US$69.0 billion and liabilities of US$65.1 billion as of March 31.
The investigation has also intensified a wider industry debate around insurers' growing use of private credit and the potential conflicts created when an insurer invests in assets connected to companies under common ownership.
Life insurers have become increasingly important sources of capital for private-credit markets, while regulators and ratings agencies have paid closer attention to affiliated transactions, asset transparency and the amount of capital supporting potentially illiquid investments.
For Cadillac, TWG's message is that the scrutiny will not disrupt its F1 ambitions. New team principal Marcin Budkowski, asked whether he had sought assurances about the investigation before signing, said it had not been part of discussions surrounding his appointment, pointing instead to continued spending on the operation.
"The new factory, my appointment; there's key personnel that, hopefully, we will be able to announce soon as well," he said. "I think it just shows the commitment and the investment behind the project."
