Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
