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Vince Mc Mahon
Eugenio Gologursky/WireImage
WWE founder Vince McMahon, who resigned from his positions as CEO and board member of TKO Group amid renewed scrutiny over sexual misconduct, is selling a substantial portion of his stake in the company.
According to a securities filing on Tuesday, McMahon plans to sell 5.4 million shares of TKO, which is equivalent to approximately $412 million. The stock could be worth up to $25 million more, and the company’s share price closed at $81.67 at market close on Monday.
The shares represent about 25 percent of his remaining stake in TKO. The sale comes after McMahon in November decided to sell 8.4 million shares of the company, with a street value of just over $700 million. In particular, TKO bought back shares worth $100 million. Endeavor and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel, as well as President and COO Mark Shapiro, also collectively purchased $2 million in shares.
The transaction comes after former WWE employee Janel Grant sued McMahon for sex trafficking and assault. The embattled WWE founder tendered his resignation the next day, leaving him with no role in TKO or the wrestling team he founded.
In a statement issued in response to the allegations, McMahon said: “I stand by my previous statement that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is filled with lies, made-up obscene cases that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth. “I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless allegations and look forward to clearing my name.”
During his WWE tenure, McMahon paid hush money to quietly resolve sexual misconduct allegations. However, the graphic details of Grant’s lawsuit, as well as its timing, which came less than a year after he leveraged his majority stake in WWE to name himself a member of the company’s board of directors and put it up for sale, They forced his resignation. He lost approximately 87,000 unvested shares due to his departure.