The financial network behind Cadillac Formula 1 is facing renewed scrutiny following a series of developments involving TWG Global, Mubadala Capital and Palantir, with Indiana technology entrepreneur Barbara Bessolo questioning how the different pieces fit together.
Bessolo is the founder and CEO of Carmel-based technology company DynamoEdge, which develops real-time edge AI technology for applications including connected vehicles and fleet management. She has become a significant figure in a separate legal dispute involving Michael Andretti and several organisations connected to Indiana’s technology and motorsport sectors.
Bessolo and DynamoEdge filed a lawsuit in Marion Superior Court in March 2026 naming more than a dozen defendants, including Michael Andretti, Andretti Global, TWG Global and Palantir Technologies. The complaint alleges intellectual-property theft, breach of contract and other wrongdoing. Those allegations have not been proven in court, and the defendants’ positions should be distinguished from the claims contained in Bessolo’s complaint.
Her connection to the current Cadillac story is therefore particularly noteworthy.
Andretti Global is now part of the TWG Motorsports organisation, which also operates Cadillac F1 alongside General Motors. TWG’s own motorsport portfolio confirms that Andretti Global and Cadillac Formula 1 sit within the same wider organisation.
The Mubadala transaction changed TWG’s financial picture
Bessolo believes the relationship between TWG and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala deserves greater attention.
“This Mubadala transaction is that triggered the whistleblowing apparently,” Bessolo told TJ13. “They are saying that Walters had no money to buy the Lakers and F1, and use theirs. Basically became a rep.”
That statement refers to allegations and interpretations surrounding Walter’s wider financial network, rather than an established finding that Mubadala funded the acquisitions of the Lakers or Cadillac F1.
The underlying Mubadala transaction, however, is public. Mubadala Capital agreed to lead a $10 billion investment in TWG Global as part of a planned $15 billion equity raise. TWG simultaneously committed $2.5 billion to Mubadala Capital products and agreed to acquire a 5% stake in the Abu Dhabi asset manager.
The scale of that transaction is important when viewed against TWG’s extraordinary expansion. Mark Walter and Thomas Tull consolidated a vast collection of sporting, investment and technology interests under TWG Global, with the Financial Times reporting that the pair had almost $40 billion in personal assets under the umbrella while pursuing the additional $15 billion raise.
That does not prove that outside capital was used to purchase any specific sporting asset. It does, however, demonstrate the enormous amount of external capital being assembled around the organisation controlling Cadillac F1.
The Palantir connection is even more intriguing
Bessolo also believes the relationship between TWG and Palantir deserves considerably more attention.
“No one is reporting on the fact that TWG and Palantir announced their JV 24 hours before being approved for Formula One,” she said. “They invested in one thing…[.]”
The precise timing is worth examining. TWG Global and Palantir announced their joint venture on March 5, 2025, while Cadillac’s formal approval to enter Formula 1 was announced by F1 and the FIA on March 7. The two announcements were therefore separated by approximately 48 hours, rather than exactly 24.
The partnership was not simply a conventional commercial sponsorship. TWG and Palantir announced a joint venture designed to deploy artificial intelligence across financial services, including banking, investment management and insurance.
The Financial Times subsequently reported that TWG had already been using the technology inside Guggenheim and its insurance business, with the venture combining Palantir’s data-analysis technology with xAI’s models.
“TWG has a JV with Palantir and Palantir is not a sponsor,” Bessolo added. “They are the AI of TWG AI.”
That distinction is important. Palantir’s relationship with TWG extends into the group’s wider technology and financial operations rather than being simply an F1 branding exercise.
Bessolo’s lawsuit brings Andretti and Palantir into the same story
The connection becomes particularly interesting because Palantir and TWG Global are also named as defendants alongside Michael Andretti in Bessolo’s lawsuit.
According to the complaint, Bessolo and Andretti began discussions in 2020 about creating a business combining DynamoEdge’s technology with Andretti’s motorsport operation. Bessolo alleges that her company’s technology and intellectual property were subsequently used in other ventures without her permission. The lawsuit also names several Indiana organisations and technology companies.
Bessolo has publicly described herself as a whistleblower and has argued that her technology was appropriated after she introduced Andretti and others to her business relationships. Those claims remain allegations and are subject to the legal process.
For the Cadillac story, the significant point is the organisational connection: Michael Andretti may no longer run the F1 operation, but Andretti Global remains part of the same TWG Motorsports structure that owns and operates Cadillac F1. TWG assumed control of Andretti’s motorsport interests before Cadillac’s F1 entry was formally approved, with Dan Towriss subsequently leading the motorsport organisation.
Cadillac says its future is not in doubt
All of this comes as TWG faces wider scrutiny over Walter’s business empire and as Cadillac itself undergoes a major leadership change.
TWG has insisted that its motorsport properties are not for sale. During the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, a Cadillac spokesman stated: “TWG is not considering a sale of the Cadillac team or any other part of TWG Motorsport.”
The statement followed Walter’s reported $12.5 billion sale of the Los Angeles Lakers and comes amid federal scrutiny of companies connected to his wider business empire.
None of these developments proves that Cadillac F1 is financially unstable, nor does the timing of the Mubadala and Palantir transactions establish a connection to the federal investigation.
But the combination of a $10 billion investment into TWG, a major Palantir AI joint venture, the Andretti litigation and the financial scrutiny surrounding Walter means the structure behind Formula 1’s newest team is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
The message from Cadillac remains that the team is not for sale. The more interesting question may be how TWG built, financed and continues to expand the enormous organisation sitting behind it and just how secure the money is behind the newest Formula 1 team on the grid truly is.
And with Barbara Bessolo’s lawsuit now placing Andretti, TWG and Palantir in the same legal dispute, this is unlikely to be the last time those names appear together.
Would you like to see more TJ13 Formula 1 coverage? Add us to your favourites list on Google to receive trusted F1 news.
The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
