Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
