New lawsuit alleges Vince McMahon, WWE Board rushed ‘sham sale process’

Not everyone was happy when it was announced earlier this year that WWE would merge with UFC to create the new TKO.

A recent lawsuit by an Ohio pension fund that became unsealed last week claims that then-WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon and other Board members moved for a “quick sale” and a favorable one to Endeavor, founded by McMahon’s friend and former agent Ari Emanuel.

The Hollywood Reporter was the first to report the news Monday. TKO has yet to respond publicly to the suit.

The reason for the suit is the investors feel the deal was done to allow McMahon to stay on as TKO Executive Chairman and avoid further complications and a possible ouster due to sexual misconduct allegations that arose in the summer of 2022. In doing so, the suit claims, WWE turned away from two all-cash offers that they perceived as having better terms.

The other potential bidders weren’t identified, but were referred to as “major institutions with significant access to capital” that had “compelling reasons to close an acquisition of WWE.”

From the report:

“According to the complaint, this included undisclosed companies submitting cash offers at $95-$100 and $90-$97.50 per share. But because they contemplated cashing out WWE stockholders and barred McMahon from rolling over his shares, which would’ve signaled his “complete ouster” from the wrestling world, the board “never bothered to make” counterproposals, the suit states.”

The $95.66 per share price that the WWE/Endeavor merger closed at was less than the other offers, the suit claimed.

They claim McMahon and other Board members “conjured up a sham sales process” to put Endeavor in the driver’s seat and “exclude other bidders seeking to axe” McMahon. He, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, George Barrios and Michelle Wilson were also named in the suit which seeks to represent all stockholders who cashed out shares in the merger.

Khan, Levesque and Frank Riddick were also called out for getting a combined $25 million in cash bonuses thanks to the deal.