Former executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings and founder of WWE, Vince McMahon, has divested more of his ownership in the company.
Mr. McMahon, aged 78, sold nearly 3.5 million shares, generating around $100 million in proceeds from the transaction, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This marks the third instance where McMahon has sold a part of his stake in TKO Group Holdings, the conglomerate of WWE and UFC. The initial sale in 2023 raked in close to $670 million, and the second sale in March brought in $408 million.
With this latest transaction, McMahon has garnered over $1.17 billion from selling his TKO stake.
Despite this sale, McMahon still retains ownership of more than 11.5 million shares of TKO stock, valued at just under $1 billion based on the current stock price. This signifies a notable decrease in the holdings of the former WWE Chairman, who was among TKO’s major shareholders at its inception.
Endeavor, the talent agency that acquired UFC in 2016 for slightly over $4 billion, has struck a deal to gain control of WWE. The agency secured a 51 percent controlling interest in the company, with the remaining 49 percent held by existing WWE shareholders, including McMahon.
TKO Group Holdings is headed by CEO Ari Emanuel, who is entrusted with making crucial decisions for the company.
McMahon’s recent stock sale coincided with a lawsuit filed by a former employee that raised troubling allegations of sexual assault, sex trafficking, and other mistreatment endured while working for the wrestling tycoon post his separation from WWE.
Following McMahon’s exit, President of TKO Group Holdings Mark Shapiro commented on the sale of the former executive’s stake.
“He’s going to do whatever he’s going to do. We’re all on the sidelines,” Shapiro remarked about McMahon. “We don’t have any insights into his motives or plans in this regard. We are in the dark like everyone else and awaiting to see what unfolds.”
The stock sale was finalized when an unidentified bank acquired McMahon’s stock between March 5 and March 25.
