Toto Wolff Set to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Standings
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
