Vince McMahon will pay $1.7 million to settle SEC allegations over hush money agreements
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that they have resolved accusations against ex-World Wrestling Entertainment tycoon Vince McMahon for potentially breaching federal securities regulations by not revealing two settlement agreements totaling $10.5 million with WWE.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Friday that the agreements reached in 2019 and 2022 were signed without the awareness of World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) board, legal team, accountants, or auditor. These settlements bypassed WWE’s internal accounting control system, leading to significant errors in their financial reports for 2018 and 2021.
Leaders within a company should not secretly make significant deals on its behalf without informing the company’s management or auditors,” emphasized Thomas P. Smith Jr., an associate director in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s New York regional office.
McMahon is set to pay approximately $1.7 million in a settlement, which includes both a civil fine and compensation to WWE. McMahon consented to this agreement without acknowledging or contesting the agency’s conclusions.
> “The investigation, spanning over three years across various government departments, has concluded. McMahon announced this on X. There had been much conjecture about the nature and results of the probe. However, today’s resolution demonstrates that a significant portion of these speculations were unfounded and misleading. The truth is, the investigation uncovered nothing more than minor accounting discrepancies related to some personal payments I made as CEO of WWE several years ago. I am relieved that I can finally move past this issue.
Hollywood Inc.
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Investigations into secret payments. A new sports colossus. Inside Vince McMahon’s last stand
Over the course of a contentious career, McMahon has battled adversity and survived numerous scandals, ultimately creating the largest professional wrestling empire on a global scale.
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McMahon’s career has been marked by controversy, yet he’s managed to overcome obstacles and scandals, leading to the establishment of the world’s biggest professional wrestling business.
As reported by the SEC, McMahon was mandated to compensate a previous female employee with $3 million and a female contractor with $7.5 million. In return for this payment, they agreed not to reveal their accusations of misconduct, any personal relationship, or file lawsuits against McMahon or WWE.
The agency said WWE overstated its 2018 income by some 8% and its 2021 net income by about 1.7%
As a passionate movie buff retelling recent events, in the year 2022, an examination carried out by WWE’s board unveiled that McMahon had made payments amounting to approximately $14.6 million from 2006 to 2022, allegedly due to misconduct. This information was disclosed in official filings with regulatory bodies.
The reported incidents involved settlements being made to various women, some of whom were WWE employees, who claimed that McMahon had instigated unwanted sexual advances and pressured them into engaging in sexual acts. In one instance, a woman asserted that McMahon sent her unsolicited explicit photographs of himself, according to the Wall Street Journal’s initial report.
The allegations sparked investigations by the Justice Department and the SEC.
Previously, McMahon publicly declared that he disputes the accusations. In response to The Times, he stated, “I am optimistic that the investigation by the government will conclude with no evidence of misconduct.
Despite McMahon denying accusations of paying hush money to silence sexual misconduct allegations, he resigned from WWE in 2022. Yet, by early 2023, he managed to arrange his comeback as chairman.
Hollywood Inc.
Starting next Monday, you’ll be able to watch “WWE Raw” only on Netflix. With their long history of captivating audiences on television and creating compelling stories both in and out of the ring, WWE is aiming for a massive international and multi-generational viewership.
In April 2023, it was decided to combine WWE with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, creating a new publicly traded company called TKO Group Holdings, valued at approximately $21.4 billion. This joint venture officially started in September of the same year. The ownership and control of this entity lies with Endeavor Group, led by influential Hollywood executive Ari Emanuel. Vince McMahon retained his position as the executive chairman on the board.
Over a short period, McMahon resigned from the company once more following a lawsuit by ex-employee Janel Grant. The lawsuit accused the company, McMahon, and former talent relations head John Laurinaitis of sexual assault, trafficking, and emotional abuse. Grant stated that McMahon had promised to pay her $3 million in return for her silence.
During the filing of Grant’s lawsuit, a representative for McMahon asserted, in response to The Times, that her lawsuit was “filled with falsehoods, fantastical allegations that didn’t happen, and a malicious twisting of facts.
In a statement released on Friday, Ann Callis, Grant’s lawyer, stated, “While Vince McMahon was at the helm of WWE, he seemed to believe that rules didn’t apply to him. New evidence suggests that not only did he flout regulations, but he also allegedly broke the law repeatedly to conceal his appalling actions, including human trafficking. The SEC’s allegations show that the NDA McMahon forced Grant to sign was illegal, implying that her case should be brought before a court.
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2025-01-10 21:31