Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
