Report: WWE board investigating McMahon
STAMFORD — WWE’s board is investigating a “secret $3 million settlement” that Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Vince McMahon agreed to pay a former employee with whom he allegedly had an affair, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Wednesday.
An agreement reached in January prohibits the woman, who was hired as a paralegal in 2019, from discussing her relationship with McMahon or “disparaging” him, according to the Journal, which cited documents and unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The Journal also reported that the board’s investigation, which began in April, has discovered other, older nondisclosure agreements related to former female WWE employees alleging misconduct by McMahon and John Laurinaitis, WWE’s head of talent relations.
Among the board’s preliminary findings were that McMahon drew from personal funds to pay the former female employees who signed the agreements, including the one pertaining to allegations against Laurinaitis, according to the Journal.
A WWE spokesman and McMahon’s attorney, Jerry McDevitt, did not immediately respond Wednesday to inquiries from Hearst Connecticut Media.
A company spokesman told the Journal that the company was cooperating with the investigation and that McMahon’s relationship with the woman was consensual.
The Journal said McDevitt provided a letter that said the woman had not alleged any harassment by McMahon and that WWE “did not pay any monies” to
the woman “on her departure.”
Vince McMahon, 76, is married to Linda McMahon. She formerly served as WWE CEO, then ran twice unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate, and later served as Small Business Administration administrator during President Donald Trump’s administration.
The McMahons have played a pivotal role in WWE’s growth in the past few decades into a global sports-entertainment powerhouse. WWE’s revenues in 2021 totaled a companyrecord of about $1 billion, with millions of fans around the world watching events such as the annual WrestleMania and the weekly shows Raw and SmackDown.
“In addition to serving as chairman of our Board of Directors and chief executive officer, Mr. McMahon leads the creative team that develops the storylines and the characters for our programming (including our television, WWE Network and other programming) and live events,” WWE said in its annual report for 2021. “The loss of Mr. McMahon due to unexpected retirement, disability, death or other unexpected termination for any reason could have a material adverse effect on our ability to create popular characters and creative storylines or could otherwise adversely affect
our operating results.”
Among other recent developments, real estate records indicate that the McMahons have put their penthouse in the downtown Park Tower Stamford on the market for $4.1 million.
The McMahons’ daughter, Stephanie McMahon, serves as WWE’s chief brand officer. Last month, she announced that she would take a leave of absence from the company. She and her husband, Paul Levesque, who performed in the ring as “Triple H” and is now WWE’s executive vice president of global talent strategy and development, are WWE board members.
“WWE is a lifelong legacy for me, and I look forward to returning to the company that I love after taking this time to focus on my family,” Stephanie McMahon said in a tweet announcing her decision.
The company ranks as one of the largest employers in Stamford, with about 700 local employees as of the third quarter of 2021, according to the Stamford Office of Economic Development. Now headquartered at 1241 E. Main St., next to Interstate 95’s Exit 9, WWE plans to open later this year a new headquarters two miles west, at 677 Washington Blvd., in downtown Stamford.