Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
