Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion 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 Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
