Confirmed: Warner Bros. Discovery Owns Part Of AEW | AEW News
After plentiful speculation, WBD does indeed own part of AEW.
While many have speculated about the topic, it's now been confirmed that Warner Bros. Discovery does indeed own a stake in AEW.
This confirmation comes courtesy of a CNN article looking at politics in professional wrestling, which features the line: "Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent corporation, owns a minority stake in AEW."
AEW President Tony Khan has been asked several times over the years whether WBD has any stake in his company, but Khan has never confirmed or denied this, instead often repurposing the question and stating that he owns 100% of the decision-making in All Elite Wrestling.
It's not known exactly what percentage of AEW is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, but it's seemingly under 10%. Due to WBD being a publicly traded company, anything more than 10% would need to be disclosed. It's also not known whether the percentage increased as part of AEW's most recent media rights deal in 2024. Likewise, there are no details on what should happen if AEW were ever to move to another media entity.
For this CNN article, it explores how the wrestling world lines up politically these days, highlighting the anti-ICE chants that have followed AEW's Brody King in recent weeks, while also detailing how US President Donald Trump is in the WWE Hall of Famer, that Linda McMahon is the current US Education Security, that Paul Levesque is the Vice Chair of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, and, of course, how Trump is a long-time friend of disgraced former WWE President Vince McMahon.