Tony Khan made $6.9 billion bid for WWE during 2023 sales process
In a “what if?” moment in pro wrestling if there ever was one, new reporting out Thursday revealed that AEW head Tony Khan put in a bid for WWE during the company’s 2023 sales process.
That news was first reported by Brandon Thurston for Post Wrestling, courtesy of documents via the ongoing WWE shareholder lawsuit in which the process that saw Endeavor ultimately win out is being questioned.
The recently unredacted court filings originally from November 2023 show that along with the already known interested suitors TKO, Liberty Media and KKR, a company called Base 10. While Khan wasn’t specifically mentioned, the documents read that it’s “the owner of All Elite Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion that plainly would enjoy significant synergies with WWE.”
Base 10 is a separate entity from Beatnik Investments, LLC, that is also owned by members of the Khan family. It was incorporated in 2014.
According to Thurston’s math, the offer listed in the documents was the lowest of the four, working out to $6.9 billion. By comparison, Endeavor led the pack at $8.5 billion, followed by Liberty Media ($8.5 to $8.9 billion) and KKR ($8 billion to $8.7 billion).
Aside from the dollar values, the key difference was Endeavor’s offer was an all-stock deal where investors just got their shares converted into TKO stock as opposed to the other three offers that were all cash.
Thurston also noted that the non-AEW affiliated bidders got access to a data room “where they had access to nonpublic information about WWE — a standard practice at that stage of a major M&A process.” He stated there’s no information supporting Base 10 got that same opportunity, perhaps due to its lower bid, Khan’s ownership of AEW, or a combination of those factors.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.