Toto Wolff Set to Sell Shareholding Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on this. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
