In all of automobile land, Bugatti cars may be the most exclusive. The company’s 1,578-horsepower cars sell for nearly $6 million each and look like nothing else on the road. They use a weird W16 engine layout, own nearly every top-speed record, and are show stoppers even among other supercars. But as Bugatti studies for an all-electric future, its ownership has changed, and a 35-year-old Croatian engineer now owns a major percentage of the company.

Who is the real owner of Bugatti?

As is often the case with multinational companies, the ownership of Bugatti will take a bit to explain. In the 1990s, Volkswagen Group rescued Bugatti and helped build the company’s first hypercar, the Veyron EB 16.4 in 2005. However, in July of 2021, Volkswagen sold the company to a consortium called Rimac Automobili, which is a joint venture between Croatian supercar manufacturer Rimac and Porsche.

According to the Independent newspaper, Rimac owns 55% of the company. Porsche now owns the remaining 45% of Bugatti. However, and this is where the deal gets complicated, Porsche also owns 24 % of Rimac. Hyundai owns 12%, and company founder Mate Rimac owns 37%. The final 27% of Rimac is owned by investors. In some ways, Porsche now controls more than 50% of Bugatti.

Is Bugatti owned by Elon Musk?

Many think Elon Musk owns Bugatti. But he’s too busy with Tesla, Twitter and Space X to also own a weird exotic car company.

However, Mate Rimac is a fascinating entrepreneur of his own who is just 35. According to a fascinating profile of him in The Guardian, when Rimac was 17 he’d already earned two patents. After racing a rusty BMW locally, he decided to convert it to electricity. Then, a member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi asked him to build an electric hypercar, which he did. That car made a splash as the 2011 Frankfurt auto show.

What is Rimac, and what does it make?

Rimac went on to start Rimac Group, which now builds the quickest production car in the world. We’re not surprised if you’ve never heard of it in the U.S. The cars aren’t sold here yet, but fans of the British car TV show “Top Gear” cringed when Richard Hammond crashed a $1 million Rimac Concept on the show. In the video above, Mate Rimac discusses the crash and the car with Hammond.

Rimac’s cars are ludicrously quick, and expensive, and premium cars. Sound Familiar? In the last decade, Rimac has built the company up from a few employees to 1,600. While Rimac’s Nevara cars sell for $2.2 million, good look getting one. Rimac limited to production to 150 cars. However, Rimac’s technology is finding its ways into many other cars, like Porsches.

The Rimac Nevera, though, makes 1,887 horsepower, and has a sub 2.0-second zero to 60 mph time. It also has a 205-mile range.