WWE co-founder and former CEO Vince McMahon and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reached a settlement following a year-long investigation into undisclosed settlements.
The federal investigation was launched to determine whether McMahon disclosed to the company’s board of directors and others that he signed two settlement agreements worth more than $10 million with two women to keep them from disclosing potential claims against himself and WWE .
The SEC said McMahon, without admitting or denying its findings, agreed to cease violating certain provisions, pay a civil penalty of $400,000 and repay WWE approximately $1.3 million.
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WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon speaks at a press conference announcing the WWE Network at the 2014 International CES at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas in Las Vegas on January 8, 2014. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
McMahon released a statement Friday claiming the situation was the result of “minor accounting errors.”
“The case is closed. Today brings to a close nearly three years of investigation by various government agencies. There has been much speculation about what exactly the government was investigating and what the outcome would be. As today’s decision shows, much of that speculation was misleading and deceptive,” read the statement. “At the end of the day, there was never anything in this other than minor accounting errors regarding some personal payments that I made several years ago while I was CEO of WWE. I’m glad that I can now put all of this behind me. “
Federal prosecutors declined to comment.
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SEC officials said Friday that one agreement was signed in 2019 and the other in 2022. One agreement required McMahon to pay a former employee $3 million in exchange for the former employee’s agreement not to disclose her relationship with McMahon and her release of potential claims against WWE and McMahon.
The second agreement required McMahon to pay a former WWE independent contractor $7.5 million in exchange for the independent contractor’s agreement not to disclose her allegations against McMahon and her release of potential claims against WWE and McMahon, according to the SEC.
WWE owner Vince McMahon enters the arena during WrestleMania at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on April 3, 2022. (Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)
McMahon stepped down from his role as chairman and CEO of the popular professional wrestling promotion in 2022, pending the results of an internal investigation stemming from allegations of hush money deals. His daughter Stephanie McMahon took over her father’s management duties.
A few weeks after his resignation, McMahon announced his intentions to retire from WWE. He returned as executive chairman in 2023, but resigned from TKO — a company that resulted from a merger between WWE and Zuffa, the UFC’s parent company — in 2024. McMahon’s resignation came after a former employee filed a federal lawsuit that accused him and another former executive of serious sexual misconduct.
McMahon maintained that he committed no wrongdoing after filing the lawsuit.
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon attends a press conference to announce WrestleMania XXIX at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on February 16, 2012. (John W. Ferguson/WireImage)
By failing to disclose the agreements to WWE’s board, legal department, accountants, accounting staff or auditors, McMahon circumvented the company’s system of internal accounting controls and caused material misstatements in its 2018 and 2021 financial statements, the commission said.
The SEC’s ruling found that because the payments required in the 2019 and 2022 agreements were not recorded, WWE overstated its 2018 net income by approximately 8% and its 2021 net income of approx. 1.7%.
Upon learning of the settlement agreements, WWE issued a restatement of its financial statements in August 2022.
