Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
