For the first time in company history, a McMahon does not have majority ownership of World Wrestling Entertainment. WWE’s sale to Endeavor was finalized this past September, as the sports-entertainment giant officially merged with Ultimate Fighting Championship to form TKO. While the two combat sports titans exist under the same umbrella, it has been emphasized that there will be no crossover between them. Upon the initial sale, it appeared that Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel was keen on retaining WWE Chairman Vince McMahon in an executive capacity, as Emanuel often professed his admiration for McMahon’s career as a businessman.
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That said, recently reports have indicated that some of that praise may have just been for show. For starters, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque is back to all but exclusively running WWE’s on-screen product, as Endeavor saw McMahon’s meddling with creative as being counter-productive since those responsibilities are not inherently part of his job. Beyond that, McMahon was listed as a potential liability to TKO due to his prior misconduct allegations.
Vince McMahon Selling $700 Million in WWE Shares
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WWE ownership moves even further under the Endeavor umbrella.
According to a securities filing on Thursday, Vince McMahon is set to sell 8.4 million shares of TKO, an estimated valuation of around $700 million, which comes out to be 25 percent of his shares within the company. The filing adds that the shares are expected to be sold as follows…
- Endeavor purchases $100 million of McMahon’s shares
- Endeavor and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel purchases $1 million of McMahon’s shares
- Endeavor and TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro purchases $1 million of McMahon’s shares
- Other unnamed directors purchase $850,000 of McMahon’s shares
McMahon previously held roughly $3 billion-worth of WWE stock. When this sale goes through, he will still have over $2 billion-worth of shares, but his control of the company will decrease. He reportedly owned about 35 percent of WWE’s total shares prior to this sale. From here, McMahon will own somewhere around 27 percent of WWE’s total shares.
This is the latest in a big couple of weeks of financial shake-ups for WWE. Earlier this fall, WWE SmackDown broadcast rights were sold to the USA Network for $1.4 billion. This past Wednesday, WWE NXT saw its biggest TV rights increase ever when it was acquired by The CW. It remains to be seen as to where Monday Night Raw, WWE’s flagship and arguably most lucrative program, will end up.