Vince McMahon still has TKO shares that can earn him over $1bn even after $412 million transaction

There have been recent developments regarding Vince McMahon’s status in the WWE and TKO. Despite leaving the company due to a lawsuit filed against him for alleged sexual assault, there is still speculation about his plans.

This has caused a major sponsor to threaten to withdraw their advertising from the Royal Rumble event in 2024. As a result, Vince has resigned from his role as Executive Chairman of TKO, a position he held after the Endeavor takeover of WWE was completed in September 2023.

Vince McMahon sells over 5 million TKO shares

Earlier this year, Vince McMahon resigned from TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, after a former WWE employee, Janel Grant, filed a 67-page lawsuit accusing him, John Laurnaitis, and the Stamford, Connecticut-based promotion of engaging in discriminatory behavior.

Recently, McMahon sold 5 million TKO shares worth $412 million, according to a recent SEC filing highlighted by Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston on Twitter. Despite the sale, the Founder of WWE still retains 15 million shares, which is approximately 9% of TKO stock.

In November last year, WWE and UFC merged officially under the banner of TKO. Two months after the merger, McMahon sold 8,400,000 TKO shares. After fees, McMahon collected $642 million from the sale. Morgan Stanley brokered both this month’s and last November’s transactions.

Brandon announced on Twitter today that McMahon received a special dividend of $111 million from TKO following the WWE-UFC merger. McMahon has recently cashed out over $1 billion from these transactions. Currently, federal prosecutors are investigating McMahon due to a series of alleged misconducts.

In the summer of 2022, McMahon resigned as WWE Chairman as it was revealed that he had paid millions of dollars in hush money to conceal allegations of inappropriate behavior. In January 2023, McMahon pushed his way back onto the WWE board as Executive Chairman.

However, Vince was later issued a search warrant and grand jury subpoena for documents related to the allegations against him. Despite the rising number of accusations, McMahon has denied them and is determined to vindicate himself.

TKO weighs in on Vince McMahon’s power within the company

It has been reported that TKO has released a statement regarding the departure of Vince McMahon from WWE. Despite his exit, McMahon still holds a significant amount of voting power. McMahon resigned from his position a month ago due to the allegations made against him in Janel Grant’s lawsuit. He has strongly denied the allegations and claims that the lawsuit is full of false accusations.

In addition to McMahon, former WWE executive John Laurinaitis, who is also named in the lawsuit, has stated that he is a victim and not a predator in this situation. In their 2023 Earnings filing, TKO Group Holdings included McMahon in the “Legal Proceedings” section.

“Vincent K. McMahon, who served as Executive Chair of the Company’s Board of Directors until January 26, 2024, controls a significant portion of the voting power of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock.”

“Mr. McMahon has agreed to make future payments to certain counterparties personally. In accordance with the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin Topic 5T, Miscellaneous Accounting, Accounting for Expenses or Liabilities Paid by Principal Stockholders (“Topic 5T”), the Company concluded that these amounts should be recognized by the Company as expenses in the period in which they become probable and estimable.”

“In connection with the acquisition of WWE, the Company assumed $3.5 million of liabilities related to future payments owed by Mr. McMahon to certain counterparties, of which $2.0 million was paid directly by Mr. McMahon during the period of September 12, 2023 through December 31, 2023.”

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