A new report provides an update about the shareholder class action that was filed against WWE regarding the investigation into Vince McMahon.
A shareholder lawsuit was filed against WWE in November 2023, asserting that Vince McMahon manipulated the sale process ahead of WWE’s deal with Endeavor. Pension funds in Ohio and Michigan, as well as Professor Dennis Palkon, were among the defendants.
Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics reported about the case after reviewing the information within it, as some aspects of the case were recently made public. The complaint includes portions of “meeting minutes” from the WWE board, as shareholders demanded to evaluate some WWE records.
These minutes show that former WWE board members Man Jit Singh and Ignace Lahoud tried to resign the day after the first Wall Street Journal story about McMahon’s alleged misconduct broke in June 2022. Per Thurston, the minutes show that Stephanie McMahon “convinced them to stay”, through voicemails and emails issued to other directors on the board.
Thurston notes that others left the WWE board in 2022, but Connor Schell and Erika Ayers Badan did not state that they were leaving because of the allegations against Vince McMahon.
As previously highlighted, the WWE board rejected Vince McMahon’s initial push to return in December 2022, but McMahon got his way back on the board through his voting power. Upon his return, he said that he was coming back to explore a potential sale process. After he returned, Ignace Lahoud and Man Jit Singh resigned from the board. Additionally, McMahon replaced board members Jeffrey Speed, JoEllen Lyons Dillon, and Alan Wexler with George Barrios and Michelle Wilson.
More Details
Vince McMahon was announced as the Executive Chairman of the Board in January 2023 after a unanimous vote. According to Thurston, the meeting minutes show that Nick Khan, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, and Steve Koonin “reversed course” after they initially were part of the board’s position that McMahon should not return. Based on the minutes, it is not known whether Stephanie McMahon participated, but she resigned days later.
Per Thurston, the shareholder’s lawsuit argues that WWE’s special investigation into McMahon’s alleged misconduct was “a sham”, and they claim that WWE “facilitated a cover-up”. WWE announced that the special investigation was substantially complete on August 15, 2022.
However, minutes obtained in the case show that, on August 14, “he Special Committee ‘reviewed and considered next steps in the investigation.’ The minutes say nothing about an investigation about to wrap up. Even after the [quarterly report] was filed, the Special Committee continued to meet. On August 23, 2022, the Special Committee’s counsel brought up ‘new developments’ and discussed ‘potential next steps.”
Furthermore, the lawsuit argues that, in the sale process, other bidders interested in buying WWE were willing to cash out all shareholders, whereas Endeavor’s bid favored McMahon and other top executives. Endeavor’s bid also gave McMahon a role in TKO.
Thurston also notes that K&L Gates, J.P. Morgan, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Liberty Media Corporation, and Vestry Light have been issued subpoenas. (H/t John Pollock of POST Wrestling)
WrestleZone will provide more information as it becomes available.
RELATED: FOX Denies Involvement In Rumored Vince McMahon Project
