Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth 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 consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
