Wolff Set to Sell Shareholding Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Current Standings
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
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.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
