Vince McMahon Settles With SEC Over Unreported Agreements

According to a report from the Associated Press, former WWE CEO Vince McMahon has reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over allegations that he failed to disclose settlement agreements totaling $10.5 million with two women. These agreements were intended to prevent the women from revealing potential claims against McMahon and WWE. The SEC stated that McMahon bypassed WWE’s internal controls, leading to significant misstatements in the company’s financial reports for 2018 and 2021, which overstated net income by approximately 8% and 1.7%, respectively.

McMahon agreed to pay a $400,000 civil penalty and reimburse WWE approximately $1.3 million. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, he also consented to a cease-and-desist order regarding violations of certain provisions.

The undisclosed payments included $3 million to a former employee in 2019 in exchange for her silence about their relationship and $7.5 million to an independent contractor in 2022 to prevent her from disclosing allegations against him. These payments were not properly recorded or disclosed, violating financial reporting standards.

This settlement concludes nearly three years of investigations into McMahon’s actions during his tenure as WWE’s CEO. McMahon resigned from WWE’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings, in January 2024 after facing allegations of sexual misconduct in a federal lawsuit. He had previously stepped down as WWE CEO in 2022 amid similar allegations.

In a statement, McMahon characterized the matter as “minor accounting errors” related to personal payments and expressed relief at resolving the case.

 

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