Toto Wolff Set to Sell Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
