Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
