The Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed to the sports entertainment company's board of directors that former WWE CEO Vince McMahon had entered into two $10.5 million settlements with two women to protect his potential from being exposed. They announced that they had settled the charges. The allegations against himself and WWE.
McMahon resigned from WWE's parent company in January 2024 after a former employee filed a federal lawsuit accusing him and another former executive of gross sexual misconduct.
At the time, McMahon had stepped down as chairman of the board of WWE's parent company, TKO Group Holdings.
He continued to deny wrongdoing even after the lawsuit was filed.
McMahon will step down as CEO of WWE in 2022. investigation of suspicion It matches the content of the lawsuit.
The SEC announced Friday that one agreement was signed in 2019 and the other in 2022.
One agreement calls for McMahon to pay a former employee $3 million in exchange for the former employee's agreement not to disclose his relationship with McMahon and the release of any potential claims against WWE and McMahon. Ta.
Another agreement provides McMahon with $7.5 million to former WWE independent contractors in exchange for an agreement not to disclose claims against McMahon and release from potential claims against WWE and McMahon. The SEC announced that the company was obligated to pay .
The commission found that McMahon circumvented WWE's internal accounting control system by failing to disclose the terms of the contract to WWE's board of directors, legal department, accountants, financial reporting personnel, and auditors, and the company's 2018 It alleged that the company caused material misstatements in its 2021 financial statements.
The SEC's order found that WWE overstated its 2018 net income by approximately 8% and its 2021 net income by approximately 1.7% because payments required by its 2019 and 2022 contracts were not recorded. Ta.
Upon learning of the settlement agreement, WWE issued a restatement of its financial statements in August 2022.
“Corporate executives enter into important contracts on behalf of the companies they serve and share that information with corporate management and audit functions,” Thomas P. Smith Jr., regional deputy director of the New York office, said in a statement. You can't withhold it from people.”
Without admitting or denying its findings, the SEC announced that McMahon had agreed to enjoin violations of certain provisions, pay a $400,000 civil penalty, and repay WWE approximately $1.3 million. .
McMahon was the leader. The most recognizable face in WWE for decades. When he bought the then World Wrestling Federation from his father in 1982, wrestling matches were held in small venues and broadcast on local cable channels.
WWE matches are currently held at professional sports stadiums, and the company's weekly live television show “Raw” debut above Netflix It was viewed 4.9 million times worldwide on Monday, and in an average of 2.6 million households in the United States, according to VideoAmp.
