Disgraced WWE co-founder Vince McMahon reaped a $400 million payday after selling over 5 million of his shares in WWE-parent TKO Group Holdings, according to a regulatory filing.
The Securities and Exchange Commission documents disclosed that McMahon unloaded 5.33 million Class A shares in TKO on Monday — just one quarter of his stake in the firm, which owns WWE and UFC.
The transaction minted McMahon $412 million, according to the filing.
Following the sale, McMahon still owns 15 million shares, roughly 9%, of TKO stock, according regulatory filings earlier reported on by the Daily Mail.
Representatives for TKO did not immediately respond to noti.group’s request for comment.
McMahon could not be reached for comment.
The share selloff comes weeks after McMahon’s high-profile resignation from his post as TKO’s executive chairman over sex-trafficking allegations detailed in a bombshell lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant.
Grant alleged that he defecated on her during a threesome, trafficked her to other WWE executives and sexually abused her with sex toys he named after wrestling stars.
Grant, 43, who previously worked in WWE’s legal and talent departments, said that she signed an NDA and accepted $1 million from McMahon, 78, to keep things under wraps.
Her former boss had allegedly promised her a job with the company after her parents died, but Grant has claimed that this entailed having a sexual relationship with him, which continued into January 2022.
The lawsuit also alleges that McMahon texted Grant in 2020: “I’m the only one who owns U and controls who I want to f— U.”
In the wake of the explosive lawsuit — which also named WWE’s former general manager John Laurinaitis — McMahon stepped down from his position.
Still, McMahon’s spokesperson insisted that Grant’s complaint was “replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth,” he said in a statement at the time.
“I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name,” the rep added, noting that McMahon was only leaving the company “out of respect” for the business and its shareholders.
As TKO has scrambled to handle the fallout of McMahon’s unceremonious exit, other sexual assault allegations against the executive came to light.
WWE star Ashley Massaro, who committed suicide in 2019, gave lawyers a statement before her death — which was previously unreported on but obtained by VICE News last month — that alleged McMahon propositioned her for sex.
Massaro accused the disgraced wrestling mogul and other WWE executives of covering up her alleged rape on an army base in Kuwait while on tour in 2006.
At the time, McMahon was working as the CEO of WWE. He left that job in July 2022 — when it was first revealed WWE was investigating payouts to multiple unidentified women who had alleged sexual misconduct.
WWE formed a “special committee” to review allegations against McMahon that year, but the probe was concluded by November and “resolved without any findings of wrongdoing.”
This time around, McMahon is reportedly under federal investigation over Grant’s claims against him.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
