Eugene Gologursky/WireImage
After roughly 70 years of being in the control of the McMahon family, WWE was sold to Endeavor Group Holdings on Monday.
WWE and UFC, which is owned by Endeavor, are merging to form a $21 billion “global live sports and entertainment company.” With the transaction, UFC was valued at $12.1 billion, and WWE had a valuation of $9.3 billion.
“Together, we will be a $21-plus billion live sports and entertainment powerhouse with a collective fanbase of more than a billion people and an exciting growth opportunity,” WWE executive chairman Vince McMahon said. “The new company will be well positioned to maximize the value of our combined media rights, enhance sponsorship monetization, develop new forms of content and pursue other strategic mergers and acquisitions to further bolster our strong stable of brands.”
Endeavor will have a 51 percent controlling interest, with the remaining 49 percent spread across WWE’s shareholders.
After retiring from his positions as WWE chairman, CEO and head of creative in July 2022, McMahon returned to the company in January 2023 as part of the board of directors, which fueled rumors of a potential sale.
McMahon, who was re-elected executive chairman shortly after his return, said in a statement at the time that he wanted to have a hand in television rights negotiations because of his status as WWE’s controlling shareholder.
Just before his return, Lauren Thomas of the Wall Street Journal reported that his primary motivation for coming back was to lead discussions of a potential sale.
CNBC’s Alex Sherman later reported that WWE had hired investment banking company J.P. Morgan for advisement on a possible sale, and it was noted that Comcast, Fox, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Amazon, Endeavor and Formula One owner Liberty Media were among the potential buyers.
One possible buyer not mentioned by Sherman was Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and on the night of Jan. 10, multiple reports surfaced that WWE had either agreed to or finalized a deal to sell the company to Saudi Arabia and revert to being private rather than publicly traded.
It was later reported by combat-sports insider Ariel Helwani that any such reports were premature, as WWE’s board of directors had not yet agreed to sell the company to any entity.
Still, the writing was on the wall that a sale was coming regardless of the buyer, and it finally did come to fruition.
Vincent K. McMahon’s grandfather, Jess McMahon, and father, Vincent J. McMahon, founded the Capitol Wrestling Corporation in 1953, which later became the World Wide Wrestling Federation and then the World Wrestling Federation.
In 1982, Vincent J. McMahon sold WWE to his son, and it morphed into a global powerhouse that became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999.
Due largely to its massive television deals with NBCUniversal and Fox, WWE has been more profitable than ever in recent years, which positioned it well to maximize value in a sale.
While fans and analysts have been bracing for a sale, the focus now shifts toward what it will mean for the product moving forward.
McMahon’s role in the company and Triple H’s status as head of creative are two things that will have to be determined by the buyer, provided they haven’t been decided already.
Since McMahon ran WWE Creative from 1982 until his retirement in 2022, it stands to reason that he would potentially want to resume the role, although he is now 77 years old and the belief among most fans is that he lost his creative touch long ago.
Given its status as a juggernaut in the pro wrestling and sports-entertainment spaces, WWE is here to stay, but how the company will look in the months and years to come is anyone’s guess.
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Vince McMahon Agrees to Sell WWE to Endeavor to Form $21B+ Live Sports Brand with UFC
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