Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction 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.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two 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.
The team secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
