Vince McMahon’s return to WWE sparked an incredible chain of events which led to AEW boss Tony Khan emerging as a potential buyer for the sports entertainment giant.
When McMahon got back into the company — at the second time of asking — it was made clear that he was there to help assist with a sale. This was followed by reports that a deal with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund was close, although this was quickly disproven.
In the chaos, a number of potential bidders began to emerge, and that pool of interested parties involved Shahid and Tony Khan.
Since then the AEW President has repeatedly stated that he is at least “interested in the process” of a deal around WWE.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer gave an update on the frontrunners to buy WWE. Meltzer noted that for Khan to do a deal he would need to recruit a number of partners, adding that a deal would be difficult for a media company given how many are currently losing money on sports products. This creates a scenario the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund remains one of the favorites to land the company.
“(Tony Khan) has expressed interest, but for him to get it, he’d have to take in a lot of partners to get it. Which is not out of the realms of possibility – they could put together a giant deal.
But aside from that – the Saudis and the Khan family – nobody else has publicly expressed interest in buying it, and the price is… in theory the price is very high, they threw that $9 billion figure out.
Unless the Saudis have pretty much agreed to go with 9 billion, which is a very highly inflated figure that I don’t think anybody else would meet, then that’s probably where it’s gonna go.
If it wasn’t for them, the figure would not be that high, but with them, the money is not as much of a deal as it is with other people trying to get a fair value for it.
They’re looking for something completely different, it’s a completely different animal, and they do want it, and for all the talk, it doesn’t appear that any of the media companies are looking for it.”
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WWE Deal Comes With Major Price Tag
WWE remains up for sale with a recent report stating that Vince McMahon has slapped a whopping $9 billion price tag on the sports entertainment giant. McMahon returned to the company in January after ‘retiring’ back in July. The Executive Chairman’s exit came as he was engulfed by allegations of serious sexual misconduct.
H/t to WrestleTalk