Vince McMahon OFFICIALLY Back In WWE - Return Confirmed
New WSJ drop pulls away the curtain on Vince McMahon's return as WWE Executive Chairman.
UPDATE (6 January - 11:50 AM GMT): Per a new SEC filing dated 5 January, Vince McMahon, George Barrios, and Michelle Wilson are officially back on WWE's Board of Directors, replacing the outgoing JoEllen Lyons Dillon, Jeffrey R. Speed, and Alan M. Wexler. The filing also notes that Vince "expects to assume the role of Executive Chairman of the Board."
Vince McMahon plans to return to WWE as an Executive Chairman in order to pursue a sale of the company, reports the Wall Street Journal's Lauren Thomas.
The disgraced former CEO resigned from his position in disgrace in July 2022. This came amid reports he had paid tens of millions of dollars in company money to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct, and saw his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, and Nick Khan installed as co-CEOs.
Despite this, Vince retained majority voting power in WWE through his stock ownership. Now, he plans on bringing back two former executives, Michelle Wilson and George Barrios, both of whom he fired in 2020. The trio returning to the WWE board will necessitate the removal of three incumbent directors.
In late December, McMahon wrote to the board of directors, outlining his desire to "spearhead a strategic review process." Vince believes that with WWE's media rights fees set to be renegotiated later this year, there is a narrow window for a potential sale, which he believes should be guided by his hand as executive director.
The board's response to Vince's letter was that it would be happy to work with him on said review process, but McMahon returning to the company would not be in the shareholders' best interests. Vince was also asked to commit to repaying WWE's expenses relating to its internal investigation into his misconduct allegations. In response, Vince claimed to be committed to completing said reimbursement for "reasonable expenses", but declined not returning to the promotion.
Perhaps the most worrying detail is that McMahon has also claimed that he will not support any media rights deals or sales unless he is directly involved as Executive Chairman. In short, he is holding the company - and its board - to ransom.
As uncovered by the WSJ last year, McMahon paid over $12 million in settlements to those who had accused him of sexual misconduct between 2006 and 2022. WWE later revealed further payments of $5 million, claiming these were unrelated to the accusations.