Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Shareholding Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion 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 F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
