20 Days That Changed WWE Forever
8. 19 October 1999 - WWF Goes Public
By late 1999, the company that couldn't afford to pay Bret Hart two years earlier seemed like an entirely different entity. The WWF had so deeply invaded the country's pop culture psyche that it looked like success would continue forever. Vince McMahon took advantage of the situation, making a fortune for himself.
On 19 October 1999, the WWF became a publicly-traded stock market entity, joining the NASDAQ Stock Market under the banner "WWFE" (it would switch to the larger New York Stock Exchange the following year). The company was divided into 10 million shares, each valued at $17. As McMahon was the primary shareholder, he ended up becoming a billionaire - at least briefly.
Taking the company public meant that any fan could now, technically, own a piece of the WWF - but that was really just a technicality. The real change was that the McMahon family was now beholden to a board of top shareholders, and forced to deliver news that would raise the company's profile, lest the stock drop and everyone lose money.
For the first time since 1982, Vince McMahon no longer had absolute and final say over what happened in WWF. Like so many of the other changes on this list, taking the company public proved to be permanent, and people can draw their own conclusions as to whether it was for the best.