10 Smartest Decisions In Wrestling History
2. Vince McMahon Floats WWE On The Stock Exchange
WWE essentially safeguarded its future and increased its ability to maximise profits by going public in 2000.
With the increased ability to raise capital, and to hire several formidable business minds with incentivised plans, WWE eventually arrived at a point at which Co-President George Barrios could somehow sell sh*t as Shinola to TV executives desperate to counteract the streaming revolution, armed with a roster it can afford to not even book. The ludicrous reserves at WWE's disposal allow it to kill the competition.
WWE has money to burn, and uses that money to engulf most any company that has the temerity to exist.
By floating on the stock exchange, WWE came into so much money that it can afford now to lose it on NXT UK, which doesn't even run live events but block TV tapings of middling attendance, purely to stem what was once a flourishing scene on the British Isles.
One of the obvious drawbacks to going public is the requirement to transparently report company results to investors, which, if poor, can badly impact on the share price. Lying to investors is classified as securities fraud and is often tried as a federal crime.
So Vince just covers his a*se by including "ticket-takers" when he bumps the WrestleMania attendance by 20,000 people every year.