Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
