Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team 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.
