Vince McMahon’s portion of WWE shareholder lawsuit payout revealed
A new court filing has disclosed the full scope of the payout of WWE’s shareholder lawsuit.
Bloomberg Law reported on the filing this morning, revealing that Vince McMahon and his insurers are paying $42.5 million as part of the resolution of the suit. The full settlement number is $147.5 million, with WWE/TKO paying $105 million. Of that number, TKO expects $75 million to be covered by insurance.
The suit was brought against McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Michelle Wilson, and George Barrios by a group of shareholders who alleged that WWE’s 2023 sale/merge process was steered toward Endeavor so that McMahon would end up in a favorable position after the acquisition. A trial was scheduled to begin earlier this summer, but the lawsuit was settled right before that could begin. The judge made a key ruling that shifted the burden of proof in a way that would have made it very difficult for the defense to prevail. The ruling concerned the spoliation (destruction) of evidence — in this case messages on the app Signal that were set to automatically delete by McMahon, Khan, and others.
WWE/TKO was not a defendant in the lawsuit, nor was Endeavor boss Ari Emanuel.
Settlement finalization currently held up —
Bloomberg notes that the finalization of the settlement is being held up at the moment due to a dispute between McMahon and the other defendants over indemnification agreements with their insurers:
- The shareholders leading the case disclosed the full $147.5 million figure in a court filing Friday, criticizing WWE parent company TKO Group Holdings Inc. — a publicly traded Silver Lake subsidiary— for making ‘partial disclosures’ in a securities filing that led ‘an incomplete picture of the full settlement’ to circulate in the press.
- Meanwhile, foot-dragging by the WWE side of the litigation ;is creating larger problems,’ the shareholders said in their letter to the court, a reference to a filing Thursday that cited a dispute between McMahon and his co-defendants over the details of their indemnification agreements with their insurers.
McMahon held a high-ranking executive position in WWE/TKO after the 2023 merger went through but resigned in January 2024 after the sexual abuse lawsuit that was filed against him and WWE by former company employee Janel Grant. That legal matter has been moved to private arbitration.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.