Majority owner Vince McMahon is officially once again with World Wrestling Entertainment.
Per Josh Nason of Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online, an SEC filing shared Friday shows that McMahon is back on the WWE board of directors less than 24 hours after a report said the 77-year-old wished to return to the company to pursue its sale and also so he could be involved in the organization’s “upcoming media rights negotiations.”
As Lauren Thomas of the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, former company executives George Barrios and Michelle Wilson were reinstated to the WWE board of directors. JoEllen Lyons Dillon, Jeffrey R. Speed, and Alan M. Wexler were removed from the board.
“Today, we announce that the founder of WWE, Vince McMahon, will be returning to the Board,” chairwoman & co-CEO Stephanie McMahon, co-CEO Nick Khan, and chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said in an official WWE statement. “We also welcome back Michelle Wilson and George Barrios to our Board of Directors. Together, we look forward to exploring all strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.”
Via PR Newswire, Vince McMahon said on Thursday: “WWE has an exceptional management team in place, and I do not intend for my return to have any impact on their roles, duties, or responsibilities.”
Vince McMahon, who bought what became the world’s largest wrestling company from his father in 1982, initially retired as WWE chairman and CEO this past July after the Wall Street Journal reported on non-disclosure agreement payments McMahon supposedly made linked with allegations of sexual misconduct. Following that announcement, Stephanie McMahon and Khan assumed their roles as co-CEOs, while Levesque was named the head of the company’s creative direction.
According to Mike Coppinger of ESPN, WWE’s media rights deals with Fox and USA expire in 2024. The company is expected to begin negotiations later this year.
“In connection with the change in the composition of the Board of Directors and in cooperation with Vince McMahon as majority shareholder, the Company intends to undertake a review of its strategic alternatives with the goal being to maximize value for all WWE shareholders,” WWE added in its release. “There is no assurance that this process will result in a transaction.”
Thomas wrote on Thursday that WWE has a market value of slightly over $5 billion, but that was before Friday’s news went public:
