Toto Wolff Set to Sell Shareholding Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
