Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned 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 Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
