Toto Wolff set to sell Mercedes ownership slice in $300 million deal
Toto Wolff is reportedly in advanced discussions to sell some of his ownership stake in Mercedes.
Toto Wolff is understood to be in advanced discussions to sell a small stake in his 33 percent ownership share of the Mercedes F1 team.
Wolff is an equal partner in a triumvirate of ownership of the Mercedes team, with his co-owners being Mercedes itself, and INEOS, the British chemical giant, through its founder and chairman, Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Toto Wolff set to sell a portion of his stake in Mercedes
Prominent business publication Sportico reported on Monday that Wolff is in advanced discussions to sell a small stake of his ownership in Mercedes, a report that sources close to the situation have indicated to PlanetF1.com is accurate.
It’s understood that the discussions are with an eye to Wolff selling a small stake in the holding company, which houses his ownership stake in Mercedes, rather than in the team itself but would leave the purchaser with the equivalent of a ‘mid-single-digit’ percentage slice of the F1 operation.
The passive equity holding company, registered in Guernsey in 2013, is named Motorsports Investment Limited, and lists Wolff as a director, as well as James Gilligan.
Wolff divesting a small stake in his company would mean that Wolff’s voting power at board level at Mercedes would remain unchanged, and he would remain in his roles as CEO and team principal; effectively, for the team, nothing would change at all.
What is notable is that the report suggests the purchase price of the share, said to be a mid-single-digit percentage, would value the Mercedes F1 team at around $6 billion, eclipsing the latest record price established in a McLaren stake sale just two months ago.
As PlanetF1.com reported at the time, MSP Capital Partners divested its 33 percent holding in the Woking-based squad to Mumtalakat and CYVN Holdings, with the team valued at circa $5 billion through the sale; a near-tenfold return on MSP’s initial investment, as its initial purchase was when the team was valued at £560 million in 2020.
When approached for comment about the speculation, a Mercedes spokesperson clarified to PlanetF1.com that, “We will be making no comment on this.
“The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners (Mercedes-Benz, Toto, and INEOS) are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One.”
The potential buyer of the stake in Wolff’s holding company has not been named, but sources have indicated to PlanetF1.com that CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz has been linked with the discussions.
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A statement from CrowdStrike issued to PlanetF1.com seems to confirm the investment in the holding company, rather than the team directly.
“CrowdStrike has no plans or intention to have an ownership stake in the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team. We continue to be a proud sponsor of the Team,” it said.
The reported “mid-single-digit” percentage would suggest a figure of around $300 million is being handed over to Wolff for the share, a small slice of the $2 billion or so his net worth in the team is currently estimated at.
With Wolff’s initial investment being 30 percent into a team valued at $165 million in 2013, this would suggest the Austrian businessman’s ownership stake has risen in value by around $1.7 billion over the last 13 years.
Wolff’s divestment of a small stake in the holding company could be seen as the Austrian realising some of the gains of his investment in the team.
However, F1’s explosion in popularity globally in the intervening years has seen team valuations skyrocket and, with Wolff leading Mercedes to an unprecedented eight Constructors’ Championships between 2014 and ’21, as well as seven Drivers’ Championships with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, the Brackley-based team has become one of the giants of the sport.
In company filings for the 2024 financial year, Mercedes boasted the highest revenues of any team with a 16 percent increase in income from 2023, rising to $858 million.
The net financial result was a strong $158 million profit for the year, with the highest-paid director, likely to be Wolff, being remunerated a salary just under £4.5 million, separate to any bonuses or ownership dividends he may have earned.
Additional reporting by Mat Coch.
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