Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
