Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
