Toto Wolff Set to Sell Shareholding Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal 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 more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Present Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races 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 unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
