With Vince McMahon under federal investigation over the alleged hush money for affairs and sexual assault claims that reportedly caused him to retire from the WWE last summer, it looks like the newly formed company of TKO has an opening to let him leave the company.
While that’s one way to look at it, another is that Vince could be ready to leave and actually retire, though that seems to go against his personality.
It’s been reported that he wasn’t going to retire initially, but did so after the news broke about him allegedly using company money to buy former employees’ silence.
In a new SEC filing reported by AXIOS, Vince and two other shareholders aren’t locked in with the company like others and their shares are able to be sold.
This gives Vince a chance to sell his 28.84 million TKO shares that are valued at $3 billion and leave the company he built into a worldwide phenomena.
But there could be another reason for this.
Protecting the company
Vince is no longer the boss, and it’s something he had to expect when he forced his way back onto the WWE board to facilitate the sale.
With that tidbit in mind, it could be something that was negotiated for this purpose as the SEC filing painted it in a way that looks like Vince may not be given much of a choice.
“McMahon’s membership on our Board could expose us to negative publicity and/or have other adverse financial and operational impacts on our business. His membership also may result in additional scrutiny or otherwise exacerbate the other risks described herein. Any of these outcomes could directly or indirectly have adverse financial and operational impacts on our business.”
Unlike when he was in full control of the WWE, Vince can’t ignore bad press and push through doing business as normal, and the newly formed company may be taking steps to ensure they avoid and issues stemming from the current investigation into Vince’s activities.
Anything is speculation right now as only TKO and Vince know what’s really going on, but it does appear that writing is on the wall for Vince to leave the company.
If he does, it’ll be the end of an era where he took a regional company and grew it into a worldwide powerhouse and made professional wrestling popular and more endearing to a wider audience.
For that we’ll always be grateful.
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