Toto Wolff is in advanced negotiations to sell Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz a portion of his ownership in Mercedes F1. The purchase would put the Formula One team's valuation at a record $6 billion.
Currently, 33% of the shares are held by Mercedes Benz, Austrian Wolff, and Jim Ratcliffe's massive petrochemical company Ineos.
While declining to comment on the report, Mercedes stated that "the governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes Benz in Formula One."
Other mentioned parties did not comment. Wolff, who is both the team principal and the head of Mercedes motorsport, intended to attract an outside investor into the holding company that controls his part, according to the FT and Sportico, which first reported the talks.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation who was reported by the FT, Wolff would continue to hold his positions while the investor would ultimately purchase a 5% ownership in the squad. A "mid single digit stake" was mentioned by Sportico.
With its branding on vehicles and driver's clothing, the multinational cybersecurity technology business Crowdstrike is a Mercedes team partner. Kurtz has participated at Le Mans and other endurance races as a passionate sportscar racer.
Mercedes finished second in the 2025 standings after 21 of 24 rounds and won eight consecutive constructors titles from 2014 to 2021.
McLaren, which employs Mercedes engines, has won the constructors title for the second consecutive year and appears poised to win the drivers title as well.
Last September, McLaren Racing was fully acquired by Bahrain's Mumtalakat and Abu Dhabi's CYVN Holdings. According to an informed source, the acquisition valued the champions at $5 billion at the time and established the standard.
Since the days when owning a team was a quick way to lose money, Formula One team valuations have skyrocketed due to the sport's explosive rise in popularity courtesy to Netflix's documentary series "Drive to Survive" and Apple's F1 film.
For one pound in 2009, Honda famously sold their team to chief Ross Brawn, who led a management buyout following the Japanese withdrawal. Jenson Button won the drivers title, and Brawn guided the team to the championship that year.
In 2015, Renault reportedly paid the same sum to acquire the faltering Lotus squad. Celebrity stockholders like NFL players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, as well as Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, now compete with them as Alpine.
After the investing group paid 200 million euros for a 24% equity stake in the team in 2023, Alpine was valued at about $900 million.
