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vince mcmahon
Eugene Gologulsky/WireImage
WWE founder Vince McMahon is stepping down as executive chairman and director of TKO Group and selling a significant portion of his stake in the company amid renewed scrutiny over sexual misconduct.
Mr. McMahon plans to sell 5.4 million shares of TKO stock for approximately $412 million, according to Tuesday’s securities filing. The stock could end up worth as much as $25 million more, and the company’s stock price ended at $81.67 at market close on Monday.
The shares represent approximately 25% of TKO’s remaining shares. The sale follows Mr. McMahon’s move in November to sell 8.4 million shares of the company’s stock, valued at just over $700 million. Notably, TKO bought back $100 million worth of stock. Endeavor and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel and President and COO Mark Shapiro also jointly purchased $2 million in stock.
The deal comes after former WWE employee Janelle Grant sued McMahon for sex trafficking and assault. The embattled WWE founder announced his resignation the next day, no longer working for TKO or the professional wrestling organization he founded.
In a statement following the allegations, McMahon said: “We reiterate our previous statements that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is full of lies, far-fetched and salacious fabrications, and persistent distortions of the truth. I support it.” I look forward to vigorously defending myself against these baseless accusations and clearing my name. ”
During his time in WWE, McMahon paid hush money to quietly resolve accusations of sexual misconduct. But the graphic details of Grant’s lawsuit, coupled with its timing less than a year after he leveraged his control of WWE to put him on the board and put it up for sale, forced him to resign. He lost approximately 87,000 unvested stock units upon his resignation.
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