Investigation Into Vince McMahon 'Substantially Complete,' WWE Says

STAMFORD, CT — The misconduct investigation into former World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Vince McMahon is "substantially complete," the company said in a security filing on Monday.

McMahon, 76, stepped down from his role as the head of the company in June following a Wall Street Journal report that the WWE's board was investigating McMahon for "a secret $3 million settlement" he agreed to pay to a former employee "with whom he allegedly had an affair."

In the days after, the WSJ also reported that McMahon reportedly paid more than $12 million to multiple women in order to silence allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.

WWE also said in security filings it discovered two additional payments made by McMahon unrelated to the allegations of misconduct.

WWE noted that it expects to spend approximately $10 million during the remainder of the year related to the investigation, and costs could exceed that estimate.

McMahon resigned and retired altogether on July 22.

In an announcement about earnings for the second quarter of 2022 on Tuesday, WWE said that based on certain findings in the investigation, it has revised its previously issued financial statements for the years ended Dec. 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, as well as the first quarter of 2022.

While WWE said in the security filing that no significant business has been lost as a result of the investigation, "it is possible that a change in the perceptions of our business partners could occur as a result of the investigation."

McMahon's daughter, Stephanie, was named interim co-CEO and chairwoman along with Nick Khan last month.

Paul "Triple H" Levesque, Stephanie's husband, was named as executive vice president, talent relations, and is the head of the creative team that comes up with storylines for the company.

WWE said until he resigned, McMahon led creative, and his absence could affect the creative product:

"Although Mr. Levesque has extensive practical experience with many of our revenue streams and, with Ms. McMahon, has been critically involved in our business transformation over the past several years as well as our continuing brand development, these collective changes at the top of our organization are extensive and recent, and it is therefore possible that the loss of services of Mr. McMahon could have a material adverse effect on our ability to create popular characters and creative storylines or could otherwise adversely affect our operations and/or financial performance."

According to WWE's Q2 earnings, revenue was $328.2 million, a 24 percent year-over-year increase, that can be mostly attributed to higher ticket sales, the company said.

WWE raked in a net income of $49 million, up from $29.2 million in the second quarter of 2021.

In an earnings call Tuesday, Levesque announced record ticket sales for WrestleMania 39, which is scheduled for April 2023 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. WrestleMania is the marquee event for the company.

Over 90,000 tickets were sold within the first 24 hours, more than any event in WWE history and a 42 percent increase over first-day sales for WrestleMania 38 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, WWE said.

"In nearly 40 years, we have never sold that many WrestleMania tickets that fast," Levesque said. "With those record numbers, we are tracking toward sell-outs with passionate fans at SoFi Stadium for both nights."