Toto Wolff is in talks to sell part of his stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team to the co-founder of one of its leading sponsors, according to the Financial Times.
Wolff, who owns 33 per cent of the Brackley-based squad, is said to be interested in selling five per cent to George Kurtz, who co-founded and is the Chief Executive of CrowdStrike.
The American cybersecurity firm is one of the team’s sponsors, becoming a global partner back in 2009.
Wolff’s 33 per cent is valued at $6 billion, a staggering rise in value given that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s British conglomerate Ineos paid £208 million for its whole 33 per cent share three years ago.
It is believed that Wolff’s position within the team would remain unchanged amid the sale, staying on as its Team Principal and Chief Executive.
In a statement, Mercedes said: “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 1.”
The team has seen some substantial financial windfalls of late, taking what is said to be the highest net profit of any F1 team in history – £161 million – after an £853 million revenue in its financial report for the year 2024.
This was said to have given Wolff, along with Ineos and the Mercedes-Benz group, a shared £93 million dividend, an amount higher than some of the lowlier teams’ budgets for an entire season.
Interestingly, despite his long career in cybersecurity, American Kurtz is no stranger to motorsport in a broader sense.
An FIA Bronze licence-holder, the 55-year-old has competed in five seasons of the IMSA-backed WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
He has also competed in four 24 Hours of Daytona races, coming second in 2023 and ’24, and three Le Mans 24 Hours, winning the LMP2 Pro-Am class in 2023.
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