Vince McMahon, CEO and President of America’s premier professional wrestling league, will be stepping down permanently from his posts following internal investigations into alleged sexual harassment attributed to him over the years. This was announced by McMahon himself, who is 76 years old and was suspended from his post in June after the investigation was opened.
McMahon is credited with being the main figure behind the worldwide success of American wrestling over the past few decades. With him, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), inherited from his father in the 1980s, has become the absolute reference for this type of entertainment: it has produced many famous figures in the world of entertainment, such as Hulk Hogan, Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) and John Cena and has grown to over $1 billion annually.
There have been rumors for a long time that in the past he had been unwelcome and sometimes harassing towards women who had worked for WWE. A few weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal revealed that McMahon has paid more than $12 million over the years to settle rape and sexual harassment allegations out of court.
However, McMahon still owns several WWE interests. The new CEO, who took office in June, is her daughter Stephanie McMahon.