Despite the horrifying allegations in Janel Grant’s sex trafficking lawsuit against Vince McMahon that came to light last month, his history suggests he would have remained in place, perhaps even defiant.
Instead, he stepped down as executive chairman of TKO, the company made up of WWE and UFC, just a few days later.
A new article by The Hollywood Reporter sheds more light on McMahon’s departure from the company, suggesting it was a decision made by those above him — an extra layer of oversight he did not have when WWE was its own entity.
Those concerns culminated the evening of Jan. 26, when Emanuel and TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro called McMahon and told him it would be in the best interest of the company for him to resign. He agreed, and submitted his resignation. “He will no longer have a role with TKO Group Holdings or WWE,” WWE president Nick Khan wrote in a memo to staff at 8:30 p.m. that evening, announcing McMahon’s resignation to employees.
In addition, THR’s piece confirms that economic considerations were a big factor. Slim Jim, one of WWE’s biggest sponsors, briefly backed out of its activations at Royal Rumble before returning to the fold after McMahon resigned. The Netflix deal to carry Raw in the U.S. and much of WWE’s content in international markets also “could have been put in jeopardy” had Grant’s lawsuit been filed earlier.
McMahon also has his own financial well-being to consider. Since he still owns roughly 10% of the shares in TKO, his wealth remains linked to the company he built into an industry leader. It behooves him to agree to decisions that will keep TKO’s stock price strong and its future outlook brightest.
In this case, that meant agreeing to leaving a position he probably won’t ever regain. It’s a move he likely never could have fathomed in the past, but it’s both a reflection of the new, more corporate WWE, and a sign that McMahon’s past misdeeds appear too great for even him to outrun.