Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Shareholding Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.