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Longtime WWE boss Vince McMahon has been replaced as CEO of the company by his daughter, amid an investigation into claims he paid $3million to a staffer and doubled her salary to keep her quiet while they were having an affair.
McMahon, long the face of the wrestling firm, will reportedly step aside pending an investigation into ‘alleged executive misconduct’ to his behavior, by a special committee of the company’s board of directors.
Former exec Stephanie McMahon, 45, who recently took a pause from the company herself earlier to ‘focus on her family,’ will serve as the wrestling interim chief executive officer until that investigation’s conclusion, the company said.
‘Effective immediately, [Vince] McMahon has voluntarily stepped back from his responsibilities as CEO and Chairman of the Board until the conclusion of the investigation,’ the board of directors of wrote in statement Friday morning.
The board went on to reveal that McMahon will ‘retain his role and responsibilities related to WWE’s creative content’ during this span.
They added that McMahon, 76, ‘remains committed to cooperating with the review underway.’
WWE wrestling is investigating Vince McMahon over claims he paid women hush money after they accused him of misconduct, including a 41-year-old paralegal who says he gave her $3million after they had an affair
Stephanie McMahon, Vince’s daughter and a former WWE exec, will serve as the CEO pending an investigation by the the board of directors into the misconduct claims
McMahon is quoted in the statement responding to the board’s investigation for the first time.
‘I have pledged my complete cooperation to the investigation by the Special Committee, and I will do everything possible to support the investigation,’ the mogul, who started his career with the company in the 70s when it was the WWF, wrote.
‘I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are.’
Stephanie, who had a career as wrestler herself and is married to promotion star Triple H, added: ‘I love this company and am committed to working with the Independent Directors to strengthen our culture and our Company.
‘It is extremely important to me that we have a safe and collaborative workplace,’ she added.
The probe is investigating claims McMahon, who is married, gave several female employees hush money payments during affairs over the course of several years – including to a paralegal who he allegedly paid $3million after doubling her salary.
McMahon, 76, is married to former Trump administration official Linda McMahon. The pair have two adult children, Shane and Stephanie, who sat on the WWE board along with her father.
The investigation began in April after the board received emails from the friend of the unnamed, 41-year-old paralegal. It was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
McMahon has served as CEO of the multi-billion dollar company since 2009 and is said to be worth $2billion.
McMahon is married to Trump aide Linda McMahon, who served as the head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s presidency
She said that McMahon hired her on a salary of $100,000, then doubled that salary after they began having sex. She alleges that he then ‘passed her like a toy’ to John Laurinaitis, the head of talent at WWE.
The woman’s friend said that their affair ended, she received ‘millions’ from McMahon through his attorney Jerry McDevitt.
McMahon, pictured alongside husband Triple H at Wrestlemania 2002. She served as the company’s chief brand officer for years
McDevitt neither confirmed nor denied that McMahon had given the woman millions, or that they had an affair, but he did say the woman never accused him of harassment.
He added that no company money was used to pay her off.
After receiving the claim from the paralegal’s friend, the board’s investigation unearthed more alleged payments to female employees of McMahon and Laurinaitis, dating back years.
Those allegations center around claims of unspecified misconduct but it’s unclear if the misconduct was sexual or of a different nature.
McMahon’s attorney did not immediately respond to inquiries on Thursday afternoon, and WWE has not issued any form of statement.
McMahon’s wife Linda with President Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago in 2019. She now works at America First Institute
McMahon in the ring with Umaga at a WWE event in 2007. He started his career at WWE as a ring announcer and is now rumored to be worth $2billion
Trump and McMahon at the 2011 WrestleMania 23 at Trump Tower. Trump played along with the theatrical wrestling matches for years, having a public frenemy feud with McMahon
Trump and McMahon at the 2007 ‘Hair v Hair’ match in which they both picked a wrestler to fight each other as part of their feud. They then delighted fans with their own fake fight in the ring
It remains unclear whether he and Laurinaitis remain in their positions.
Laurinaitis is also married but it’s unclear if he was married at the time of the allegations; he wed wife Kathy in 2016.
McMahon has been CEO of WWE since 2009 and is worth $2billion
Her daughters, Nikki and Brie Bella, are WWE stars known as The Bella Twins.
McMahon and his family take up a quarter of the seats on the board; he is the President and his daughter, Stephanie, is also on it alongside her husband.
His wife Linda served as the administrator of the Small Business Association during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Now, she works at the America First Institute. She has not yet responded to the claims of her husband’s affairs or alleged payments to women.
The McMahon family has long been synonymous with the world of WWE.
He became involved through his own father, who gave him his first job as a ring announcer when he was a teenager.
McMahon then climbed through the ranks of the company, which was then called the Capitol Wrestling Corporation.
The company changed to become the World Wrestling Federation in the 1980s, then World Wrestling Entertainment years later.
It is under McMahon’s stewardship that the sport became commercially popular, attracting millions of fans around the world through televised matches and theatrical characters.
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