Vince McMahon, a longtime executive at World Wrestling Entertainment who led professional wrestling into a mainstream phenomenon out of entertainment curiosity, became chairman and chief executive officer while the company’s board was investigating allegations of fraud against him. The company said it had resigned on Friday.
The company announced in a statement that its daughter Stephanie McMahon will become interim chief executive officer and chairman. McMahon will continue to be involved in WWE’s creative content, “continuing to promise to cooperate with ongoing reviews,” the company said.
“We promise to fully cooperate with the investigation by the Special Committee and will do everything possible to support the investigation,” McMahon said in a statement. “I also promised to accept the findings and whatever the results were.”
on wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported McMahon has agreed to pay a secret $ 3 million settlement to the employees he allegedly had a relationship with, and the board has been investigating since April. The investigation uncovered other non-disclosure agreements, including Mr. McMahon’s allegations of illegal activity, the journal reported.
McMahon’s lawyer told the journal that the employee had not filed a harassment claim against McMahon and he used his personal funds to pay the settlement.
Far from being an anonymous executive, McMahon employs one of the most famous faces of professional wrestling, a strenuous public figure who is often at the center of on-screen action. Since acquiring his father’s wrestling company in 1982, McMahon has earned more than $ 1 billion in 2021 and presided over his promotion to a cultural giant. The WWE program is broadcast in 30 languages and is distributed through NBC Universal and Fox Sports. others.
The company said it would hire an independent legal counsel to conduct the investigation and would work with an independent organization to review the company’s compliance program, talent functions, and overall culture.
McMahon will appear on Fox’s “Friday Night Smack Down” at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time. Said on twitter..
