Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, 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 will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought 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 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
