Vince McMahon decided to step down from his leadership roles in WWE because federal prosecutors have launched investigations into the hush money payments the former CEO made to keep sexual misconduct quiet.
This from a report in the Wall Street Journal, which detailed WWE’s admission that $14.6 million in payments made by McMahon had not been recorded in the company’s financial statements.
This could expose the company to sanction by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which WWE seemed to concede in a report filed with the commission Monday noting that it “may receive in the future, regulatory, investigative and enforcement inquiries, subpoenas or demands arising from, related to, or in connection” in connection with the discrepancies.
The Journal report also revealed that McMahon might have used company funds for at least a portion of the payments, which could expose McMahon to potential criminal charges.
In the meantime, McMahon, a 1964 Fishburne Military School alum, still has his hands on the controls of the promotion that he bought for $1 million from his father in 1980 and built into a multibillion-dollar conglomerate.
His daughter, Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, was named the company’s co-CEO last week, and his son-in-law, Paul Levesque, was named director of creative on Monday.
McMahon still owns a controlling majority of the voting stock in WWE.
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Chris Graham
