WRASTLING

Vince McMahon selling $700 million in TKO Group Holdings stock, Endeavor and Ari Emanuel among buyers


 Photo by Michelle Farsi/Zuffa LLC

Vince McMahon — the executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings — is selling a huge chunk of his ownership in the combined company that merged the UFC and WWE together.

According to a prospectus filed on Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, McMahon, 78, plans to sell 8.4 million shares of his stock in the company, which amounts to approximately $700 million in value. That stands as around 25 percent of McMahon’s total stock in TKO, which was approximately 28 million shares as of August.

As a result of McMahon’s sale, Endeavor — the powerhouse agency that purchased the UFC and WWE before spinning it off to a new company — will buy back $100 million in the stock made available.

Endeavor and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, TKO president and Endeavor chief operating officer, will both spend $1 million each buying back stock with another $850,000 worth of stock bought back by “other directors” involved with the company.

McMahon’s sale doesn’t necessarily affect any of the business decisions made at TKO Group Holdings, because Endeavor already owns 51 percent of the company, giving them a controlling interest.

It’s possible McMahon selling off a huge part of his stock holdings could signal an eventual exit from WWE, as well as his role as executive chairman at TKO. But nothing has been announced or decided yet on that front.

The move comes after McMahon retired and then returned to the company that he helped build. Despite his brief exit from the company during a lengthy sexual misconduct investigation, McMahon returned and remained a majority stockholder in WWE before striking the deal to sell to Endeavor. Then, Endeavor merged the pro-wrestling outfit with the UFC.

In August, McMahon was served with a Federal grand jury subpoena related to the sexual misconduct allegations, though no charges were filed against the executive.

Despite the controversy surrounding McMahon, TKO was initially valued at over $21 billion once the merger with UFC and WWE was completed. TKO stock was down five percent as of closing on Thursday, with the shares trading at $84.90 at the final bell.