Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
