Wolff Set to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix this year 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 won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
