Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
