Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
