Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won two 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 won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
