Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
