Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
