WWE Announces Dividend Numbers
A day after World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) made a slew of roster and staff cuts to protect profit margins, the company announced their quarterly dividend numbers for Class A and Class B stockholders. While a normal activity during a financial quarter, the amount of money WWE executives are set to receive further calls into question the need for the company to release talent at present. Brandon Thurston host of the Wrestlenomics podcast looked into how much money the dividend would provide WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon.
This is scheduled every quarter. But the timing…
This is means all shareholders receive 12 cents per WWE share they hold.
Largest shareholder Vince McMahon (who at last count held 28,697,568 shares) receives a quarterly payment of $3,443,708.16. https://t.co/a5YHAaib4k
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) April 16, 2020
According to estimates, WWE saves approximately $703,000 from the roster cuts made on April 15th, meaning Vince McMahon’s upcoming dividend bonus alone would cover talent contracts for over four months, without taking into consideration the other executives within the company. Perhaps the moves were made preemptive of their April 23rd Q1 financial statements, which will likely show poor performance in live attendance due to the company not being able to cash in on Wrestlemania this year. However, WWE may look for government aid through the CARES Act since they qualify due to their business being negatively affected by COVID-19.
Good Brothers Seem To Land On Their Feet
— Karl Anderson (@MachineGunKA) April 16, 2020
Shortly after their WWE release, Karl Anderson changed his Twitter handle to resemble his New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) moniker “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson, with a video indicating he was heading to Tokyo, Japan where NJPW is headquartered — seemingly to reunite with the Bullet Club. Luke Gallows, Anderson’s ‘Good Brothers’ tag team partner, is seemingly on his way back to the company as well.
The two host a podcast with NJPW and front office member, Rocky Romero entitled Talk’n Shop that recently returned after a lengthy hiatus. Their contact with Romero likely played a role in their immediate return to the promotion.
NJPW hasn’t run an event since February 26th due to the COVID-19 spread and their desire to keep fans and their roster safe. Takaaki Kidani (Company director, Bushiroad Group [Owning entity of NJPW]), Naoki Sugabayashi (Chairman, NJPW), and Hiroshi Tanahashi led a contingent of promotions based in Japan to speak to the Japanese government to ask for COVID-19 test kits for the roster along with aid the ensure contractors working for them can pay their bills during the pandemic on April 15th.
