WWE founder Vince McMahon is reportedly planning a comeback after retiring following a spate of sexual harassment allegations last summer.
McMahon, who still retains a majority of the voting rights in WWE stock, plans to add himself and two former company presidents, Michelle Wilson and George Barrios, to the board of directors, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
The reorganization would require three members of the current board to vacate their seats while management approves them, all in an effort, sources say, for McMahon to move forward with a sale of the company.
McMahon, 77, previously declined the current board’s request not to attempt to return to the company late last year, but he agreed to help WWE recover the $19.4 million they paid for the investigation of allegations of sexual harassment against him.
WWE founder Vince McMahon (above) is said to be planning a comeback at the company after resigning over the summer over allegations of sexual harassment
Sources said McMahon wants to become board chairman and plans to bring back two former presidents, which would result in three current WWE board members stepping down. His daughter Stephanie (middle) is co-CEO and her husband Paul Levesque (right) sits on the board
It remains unclear what McMahon’s return would mean for his daughter, Stephanie, who currently runs the company with co-CEO Nich Khan, the former president of WWE.
According to people familiar with the matter, McMahon had sent a letter to the board in December stating his intention to return.
McMahon told the leadership that by beginning renegotiations for the company’s flagship wrestling programs, Raw and SmackDown, they would have an opportunity to attract potential buyers looking for a stake in the industry.
Sources told WSJ that the board was interested in the idea of the sale and welcomed McMahon’s help, but unanimously agreed that his proposal to return to the board “would not be in the best interests of shareholders.”
McMahon is said to have responded that if he is not named CEO, he will not endorse or approve media rights deals, the sources added.
WWE did not immediately respond to ‘s request for comment.
Although McMahon announced his retirement in August, he reportedly sent a letter to WWE in December explaining his plan to return to broker a media rights sale
McMahon is married to Trump assistant Linda McMahon, who served as head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s presidency
WWE said it spent $19.4 million to investigate McMahon after it alleged it paid $3 million hush money to a paralegal he had sex with.
The wrestling giant said it spent $17.7 million on costs related to the investigation in the third quarter of 2022 alone.
The company added in its quarterly earnings report that the investigation into McMahon, who remains the company’s majority shareholder, was “now closed” and the “special committee” that had been formed was “dissolved.”
They added, “Management is working with the Board to implement the Special Committee’s recommendations regarding the investigation.”
McMahon, 77, had been ousted from the company he ran for more than four decades and grown into wrestling’s largest company amid a Securities and Exchange Commission and federal investigation into his undisclosed payments.
McMahon was under investigation by the company’s board of directors over agreements to pay $12 million over the past 16 years to quash allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity, the Wall Street Journal had previously reported.
McMahon, 77, had been ousted from the company he ran for more than four decades and grown into wrestling’s largest company amid a Securities and Exchange Commission and federal investigation into his undisclosed payments
In 1992, Rita Chatterton, now 64, WWE’s first female referee, came forward and accused McMahon of raping her in his limousine in 1986. She appeared on Geraldo Rivera’s TV show
WWE has hinted that it may need to publicly restate its finances after learning an eight-figure sum was paid to alleged McMahon victims.
He reportedly had an affair with the paralegal and doubled the wife’s salary from $100,000 to $200,000 when it started.
After the couple settled down, he handed her a $3 million payout, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The investigation brought up a decades-old allegation that McMahon raped Rita Chatterton, WWE’s first female referee, in his limousine in 1986.
Her claim was recently corroborated by former wrestler Leonard Inzitari, who says he saw Chatterton after the alleged attack.
He said he kept it a secret for decades for fear of being marginalized by McMahon and his family, who control the industry.