Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
