Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Standings
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
