Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
