Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
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 George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
