Shad Khan, who is reportedly among those interested in buying WWE, certainly has the means, with a net worth at an estimated $11.6 billion, to pull a deal together.
But Khan, whose son, Tony, launched WWE competitor All Elite Wrestling in 2019, would need partners, with WWE sitting at a market cap of $6.6 billion.
Which is to say, the Khans aren’t buying WWE with their money; like everybody else in this game, they’d need help.
A big part of the reason for that is Vince McMahon, the founder of WWE who has muscled his way back into control of the company after a forced retirement last summer in the wake of reports that he’d paid millions to quietly settle a slew of sexual misconduct claims, is surely going to want more than the market cap.
To that end, rumors were floated out earlier this week that the Saudi Arabia Royal Investment Fund is also among those interested in buying WWE, and if the RIF’s actions in overpaying to try to launch a competitor to the PGA Tour are any indication, the sky will be the limit if an offer were to come from there.
Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, which has had a broadcast relationship with WWE since the 1980s, is also going to be interested, as will be the case with Fox, which is paying WWE more than $200 million a year to broadcast the weekly “Smackdown” WWE show.
Disney, the parent company of ESPN, could also be a player, as it was when UFC’s media rights came up in 2019, and ESPN snatched them up for a cool $300 million per.
This is all context for the reports you’re reading about the Khans, the progenitors of AEW, being interested in buying WWE.
Of course they’re interested, but lots of people with the money to be able to make it work are interested in at least kicking the tires on WWE.
All we really know right now with respect to Shad Khan, then, is that he has the means, he has a history of investing in sports teams – he owns the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaquars and the English Premier League’s Fulham FC, in addition to AEW, which Shad Khan bankrolled.
And, yes, the last time a major pro wrestling company came on the market, back in 2000 and 2001, World Championship Wrestling, founded by billionaire Ted Turner, being the prize there, there was rampant speculation about myriad media conglomerates being the favorites, and the company ended up in the hands of McMahon, who announced the move in a shocking appearance on WCW’s flagship show, “Monday Nitro.”
I wouldn’t bet on Tony Khan being able to make a similar shock cameo on “Raw” or “Smackdown” anytime soon, but yes, the Khans are in the game.
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Chris Graham
