Toto Wolff Set to Divest Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
