Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
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 after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
