Vince McMahon initially announced his departure from all of his positions within WWE back on July 22, 2022. However, despite the WWE Board of Directors’ investigation of multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, the Wall Street Journal reported last month that McMahon was planning to make a comeback to the WWE under the belief that he received bad legal advice and that the entire scandal would blow over. The Wall Street Journal dropped another report on Thursday detailing how McMahon plans to make his comeback.
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Per Lauren Thomas via multiple sources, McMahon plans to use the 80% of voting power he still has through his Class-B stock in order to elect himself, George Barrios and Michelle Wilson (former WWE executives) to the Board of Directors and attempt to make himself the executive chairman again. This would require current members of the board to vacate their positions. McMahon stated his intent to return to the board via a letter last month, in which he claimed he should be at the helm for a potential sale of the company and that the window for a sale is “narrowing” due to Raw and SmackDown’s current TV rights deals expiring in 2024.
Update: McMahon has directly confirmed his return plans via a press release. WWE’s stock has also seen a noticeable jump in after-hours trading following the McMahon news. You can see how WWE fans are reacting to the news here.
“The board responded last month in a letter to Mr. McMahon that it was prepared to initiate a review process and would welcome working with him on it. However, it said it unanimously agreed that Mr. McMahon’s return to the business wouldn’t be in shareholders’ best interest, according to people familiar with the letters,” Thomas wrote, then noting the board wanted McMahon to commit to repaying the expenses caused by his investigation and agree to not return to the company while the Security and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors continue their investigation into the nearly $20 million he paid in non-disclosure agreements. McMahon apparently agreed to the former but not the latter, stating he will not approve a sale or even future media rights deals if he’s not the executive chairman.
The report also noted that it is unclear what McMahon’s return would mean for Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan, who were promoted to Co-CEOs shortly after McMahon’s departure.
