WWE held a meeting on January 6, just a few hours after the company officially announced that former chairman and CEO Vince McMahon was returning to the board.
McMahon previously retired amid a board investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and hush money on July 22. On January 5, the Wall Street Journal reported that McMahon intended to return and explore a potential sale of WWE. McMahon then confirmed his intentions in a press release before WWE announced his return the following day.
Per Fightful‘s Sean Ross Sapp, Stephanie McMahon, Nick Khan and Frank Riddick led the meeting, which was for all employees, not talent.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider reports that they emphasized that there will be no changes to WWE’s day-to-day management or their responsibilities right now, and that Vince McMahon’s return was a “big positive,” as it was intended to put the company in a position where it would “have everything they needed” to maximize revenues from future rights deals and explore a potential sale. It was noted that, with McMahon being back in the fold, the company would be on the same page regarding WWE’s path forward.
Additionally, Johnson wrote that the idea is for the company to examine potential sale offers prior to rights negotiations in order to see whether that would be more beneficial. It was also emphasized that a sale might not happen, and the final say would ultimately go to McMahon. Furthermore, the report stated that a “possible avenue” would be for WWE to go private again if that was “the best outcome for shareholders”. This was said to be a potential strategic option.
Sapp clarified that the possibility of going private was connected to a potential sale, and that the focus is maximizing rights fee deals and the potential price of a sale.
Update: Sapp later noted that it was reiterated that the creative process is not supposed to change as of now.
WrestleZone will provide more details as they become available.
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