UFC President Dana White gave his thoughts on WWE’s acquisition by Endeavor.
On April 3rd, it was announced that WWE had reached a deal to be acquired by Endeavor and merged with UFC to form a new $21+ billion corporation. Endeavor will own 51% of the new corporation while WWE owns 49%.
Talk of a WWE sale has been in the air for months, ever since Vince McMahon elected himself back to the board of directors back in January after retiring in July amidst allegations of sexual misconduct and hush money payments. Now, McMahon will serve as Executive Chairman of the Board of the new company, currently listed on the stock exchange as TKO. Dana White remains UFC President while former WWE CEO Nick Khan now serves as WWE President.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Pat McAfee Show, Dana White opened up about the merger, and heaped praise on Endeavor head Ari Emmanuel. He said that Emmanuel has no intention of changing the way WWE runs, as he let UFC continue as usual under White when Endeavor purchased that company.
“That’s one of the great things about Ari [Emanuel] and why he’s such a great partner and why he’s so good to work with. He came in and he bought the UFC, they asked me to stay and Ari’s one of those guys that lets you run your business, he lets you do what you do.”
Continuing, White revealed that he spoke with Vince McMahon ahead of the merger, assuring him that Emmanuel was a wonderful person to work for.
“I actually met with the McMahons the last time I was in New York. They wanted to know what it was like to be in business with him and everything else and, obviously, I couldn’t say anything but incredible, positive things about it.”
McMahon’s net worth has skyrocketed to over $3 billion since news of the merger became public, and WWE stock is seeing massive increases as well.
Dana White Thinks Vince McMahon Sold WWE To “Take It To The Next Level”
When it comes to the day to day operations of WWE, White is under the impression that not much will change. Instead, he says any changes will be on the business side of of the company, and that those changes will be nothing but positive.
“How this is going to affect our company, it won’t at all, we’re going to keep doing what we do. How it affects WWE is I think there is a lot of value that Ari can add on the business side whether it’s licensing, sponsorship, and the list goes on and on, he’ll help grow those different areas of their business. They’re valued at $9 billion, watch and see what they are in five years.
“We always knew there was room for growth and what we wanted to do, and the Fertittas were really good about this, just like Bob Meyrowitz who sold it to us, Bob Meyrowitz felt like we were guys that could take it to another level and the same thing happened when we sold to Ari. You want to sell to a guy who can help grow the business and take it to another level and that’s exactly what Vince has done too.”
The full Pat McAfee Show interview can be seen below.
h/t F4WOnline