The bank accounts of Vince McMahon have been making headlines over the past few weeks. But not for the right reasons.
The WWE owner is currently facing an internal investigation by the company he has chaired since acquiring it from his father in 1982. Following the publication of a story in the Wall Street Journal on June 16 of alleged sexual misconduct, McMahon temporarily stepped down as Chairman and CEO, with daughter Stephanie stepping in, in an interim role.
Sexual Misconduct Investigation
It has been reported that McMahon, 76, paid four women a total of $12m (£10m) to suppress his various misconducts and affairs. These four payments are believed to have been paid over a period of 16 years. Initially, only a $3m (£2.5m) settlement had been disclosed in the initial WSJ report.
All four women worked for WWE, with one believed to be a former member of the promotion’s main roster. They each signed agreements that would “prohibit them from discussing potential legal claims against or their relationships with the 76-year-old executive.”
Despite the ongoing investigation, McMahon still has an active role in the production of WWE television. He even appeared on the 17th June edition of SmackDown, the same day news of the investigation broke. He has also appeared on two episodes of Raw. Not to mention being pictured ringside at UFC 276. McMahon’s presence and attitude backstage on television has reportedly frustrated many members of his roster. Despite resigning from his chairman and CEO duties, he is still heading up creative.
The Golden ’80s and The Attitude Era
McMahon generated a vast amount of his wealth from his promotional successes in the ’80s and late ’90s. The first WrestleMania, in 1985, was a runaway success. A pop culture phenomenon that changed professional wrestling forever. McMahon bought up the biggest stars from wrestling territories around America to power his sports entertainment juggernaut, with Hulk Hogan as his golden goose.
After a downturn in the early-mid ’90s, McMahon was once again on top of the wrestling world. The 1992 steroid scandal threatened to send the WWE Chairman to prison, yet he avoided jail time. However, the controversy surrounding the trial destroyed business for several years, as did competition from Ted Turner-helmed WCW, who prised away many of McMahon’s top stars. But by 1998, with the help of Stone Cold Steve Austin, McMahon was once again on top. His Monday Night Raw defeated WCW’s Monday Nitro in the ‘Monday Night Wars’, and the WWE boss bought out his rival in 2001.
Vince McMahon’s Net Worth
In 1999, WWE floated on the New York Stock Exchange. However, McMahon has always held the majority of power within the company. He has also had expensive failures with two aborted versions of the XFL. One in 2001 and another in 2020, which was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The league was eventually acquired by Vince’s one-time top star and World Champion, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
Despite these setbacks and a lack of competition between 2001-2019, leading to a large decrease in product interest over the years, McMahon has managed to amass a huge net worth. WWE earned approximately $500m (£420m) from their dealings with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. TV rights deals with Fox and USA Network also landed McMahon’s company a further $2bn (£1.6bn) in 2019. Not to mention NBC Universal’s acquisition of the US rights for the WWE Network. The deal – worth a reported $1bn (£838m) – landed all of WWE’s Network content on NBC’s Peacock service.
Celebrity Net Worth currently have Vince Mcmahon’s net worth listed at $1.8bn (£1.5bn). Of course, WWE’s value on the stock market has dropped following McMahon’s sexual misconduct investigation. This could also impact his personal net worth, too.
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