April 3rd marked a huge day in professional wrestling as it was announced that WWE would be acquired by Endeavor and merged with UFC to form a new $21+ billion entity. 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.
News that a merger agreement had been reached was good news for company stockholders, and the company closed at its highest share price in over four years on April 4th. WWE stock closed at $97.23, which is the highest it’s been since April 24th, 2019 when it closed at $98.50. The figure is an increase of 8.88% from closing on April 3rd.
In addition, Forbes reports that McMahon’s net worth has risen to $3.1 billion as of April 5th, making him the 927th richest man in the world. That number marks a 1.4% increase over the previous day.
Vince McMahon’s Return Not Well Received Backstage
While the company has continued to insist that McMahon was only back to help facilitate business negotiations, he has reportedly had influence in top storylines, and talent have been concerned about “red flags” that indicated he was gaining more control.
Despite being told it would be “business as usual” during a talent meeting prior to the show, it was reported that McMahon was fully back in charge last night at Raw, dealing a huge blow to morale as he made numerous last-minute changes to the show.
In fact, according to a report from Fightful Select, some talent are likely to request their releases from the company if McMahon’s influence continues to grow.