Toto Wolff is 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 an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
