Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with 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.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
