Vince McMahon Is Returning To WWE

STAMFORD, CT — Vince McMahon is back with WWE.

The majority owner and longtime CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, who retired last July amid allegations of sexual misconduct, will be returning to the company's board of directors, Chairwoman & Co-CEO Stephanie McMahon, Co-CEO Nick Khan and Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque announced in a news release Friday morning.

Michelle Wilson and George Barrios are also returning to the board. McMahon has removed JoEllen Lyons Dillon, Jeffrey R. Speed and Alan M. Wexler.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that McMahon intends to come back to the company and pursue a sale of the business.

In the same news release from Friday, WWE said "the company intends to undertake a review of its strategic alternatives with the goal being to maximize value for all WWE shareholders. There is no assurance that this process will result in a transaction."

McMahon said Thursday in a statement he initiated the process to return to participate in upcoming media rights negotiations and review "strategic alternatives" for WWE.

"WWE is entering a critical juncture in its history with the upcoming media rights negotiations coinciding with increased industry-wide demand for quality content and live events and with more companies seeking to own the intellectual property on their platforms," McMahon said in a statement.

"The only way for WWE to fully capitalize on this opportunity is for me to return as Executive Chairman and support the management team in the negotiations for our media rights and to combine that with a review of strategic alternatives," he added. "My return will allow WWE, as well as any transaction counterparties, to engage in these processes knowing they will have the support of the controlling shareholder."

McMahon also said in his statement that "WWE has an exceptional management team in place, and I do not intend for my return to have any impact on their roles, duties, or responsibilities."

According to SEC filings from Jan. 5, McMahon sent a letter to the WWE Board of Directors on Dec. 20, 2022, expressing his urgency to return to the company as executive chairman.

In a response dated Dec. 27, 2022, the board said it would welcome McMahon and his advisors "to play an important role" in the process of evaluating strategic alternatives for the company.

The board pushed back on McMahon's desire to come back.

"Although we welcome your participation in the launch of a strategic alternatives review process, it is also our unanimous view that your return to the company at this time, while government investigations into your conduct by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the SEC are still pending, would not be prudent from a shareholder value perspective."

McMahon responded on Dec. 31, 2022, and said that unless he had direct involvement and input as executive chairman, he wouldn't be able to support or approve any media rights deals or sales.

The SEC filings show McMahon made amendments to WWE's bylaws to ensure that "Issuer's corporate governance continues to properly enable and support stockholder rights."

McMahon, 77, stepped down and ultimately retired last July as the head of WWE following the launch of an investigation by the company's board into allegations of sexual misconduct against himself and John Laurinaitis, another WWE executive.

The WSJ reported that McMahon paid $14.6 million to multiple women in order to silence allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity from 2006 to 2022.

WWE said in security filings last summer that it discovered two additional payments totaling $5 million that McMahon made unrelated to misconduct allegations.

The WSJ reported the money went to the now-dissolved Donald J. Trump Foundation around the same time Trump made appearances on WWE programming.

Read more from the WSJ on McMahon's comeback to WWE