Mercedes chief Wolff sells part of team stake to US businessman

Mercedes’s team principal and chief executive officer Toto Wolff has sold 15 percent of his shareholding in the Formula One team for $300 million to American billionaire George Kurtz.

The deal values Mercedes F1 at $6 billion — a record for an F1 team — and only around half a billion dollars less than Manchester United, as valued by Forbes magazine.

Kurtz, 55, is the founder of one of the Mercedes team’s sponsors, cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.

He is purchasing the stake through his own personal wealth rather than the company’s.

“If you’re making an investment like this, you believe that the sport is going to grow, F1 is going to grow and the team valuations are going to grow, and you’re going to be able to contribute to that growth,” said Kurtz, who will not be on the team’s main board but will join its steering committee.

The team’s value has increased more than seven-fold since Ineos bought its one-third stake in 2020 for £208 million ($272m).

Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe is part of the Mercedes steering committee, alongside Wolff and Ola Kallenius, the chairman of the management board of the Mercedes Group.

Wolff said that Kurtz “understands both the demands of racing and the realities of building and scaling technology businesses.”

His holding company owns one-third of the Mercedes team so the stake he has sold equates to five percent of the team.

Briton George Russell is the team’s lead driver and sits fourth in the world standings behind McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Russell has won two out of 21 Grand Prix this season, with just three races left.