A new report reveals where the $5 million that Vince McMahon paid in unrecorded expenses went.
The Wall Street Journal reports that McMahon made contributions that totaled $5 million to Donald Trump‘s charity in 2007 and 2009; these funds were among the $19.6 million in unrecorded company expenses linked to McMahon prior to his retirement amid allegations of paying former employees hush money to cover up sexual assault. Previously, WWE stated in a securities filing that the amount should have been disclosed because the transactions “benefited the company”. The filing noted that the $5 million was unrelated to the aforementioned allegations, but the Wall Street Journal’s new report cites sources who said that this amount represented the donations McMahon made to the Donald J. Trump Foundation in 2007 and 2009, the same years when Trump appeared on WWE TV.
The report notes that the payments in 2007 and 2009 equaled $4 million and $1 million. In 2007, Trump was involved with WrestleMania 23 as part of the “Battle of the Billionaires” match, which ended with McMahon getting his head shaved. Trump also appeared on WWE RAW in 2009 and briefly took over the show before he sold it back to McMahon. The report notes that as part of his negotiations for the WrestleMania appearance, Trump “directed” McMahon to donate $4 million as an appearance fee to the charity. Additionally, Trump ensured that McMahon would not be allowed to shave his head, even if his representative in the match, Bobby Lashley, dropped dead.
The source also stated that, following his WrestleMania appearance, Trump bragged out its success and McMahon subsequently paid him another $1 million. The Wall Street Journal’s report notes that a WWE attorney did not dispute the connection to Trump, but they opposed the connection between the $1 million and the success of the event.
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