Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years 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 Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
