Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
