Toto Wolff Set to Divest Stake Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
