Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to 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 was released last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers 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 for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
