Vince McMahon Paying $1.7M To Settle SEC Charges Over Failing To Disclose Two Payoffs To Women

Vince McMahon, who left his longtime perch at WWE under a cloud last year, is paying more than $1.7 million to settle charges from the SEC alleging he failed to disclose hush money payments to two women.

The SEC said the matter related to settlement agreements signed by McMahon in 2019 and 2022 on behalf of himself and WWE without disclosing the agreements to WWE’s board or top legal and financial execs. The lack of disclosure created “material misstatements” in WWE financial reports, the SEC said in a press release.

The settlement agreements signed by McMahon were designed to keep women from going public with sexual assault allegations or filing any legal complaints. One settlement agreement obligated McMahon to pay a former employee $3 million in exchange for the former employee’s agreement to not disclose her relationship with McMahon and her release of potential claims against WWE and McMahon. The second agreement obligated McMahon to pay a former WWE independent contractor $7.5 million. 

“Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings,” as the press release put it, McMahon agreed to pay a $400,000 civil penalty for violating the Securities Exchange Act, and also to reimburse WWE $1,330,915.90.

WWE, which McMahon built into a multi-billion-dollar media operation, merged with UFC in 2023, creating TKO Group Holdings. Endeavor has a controlling stake in TKO. McMahon, who remains under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice related to his conduct as WWE’s CEO, stepped down from TKO’s board in the wake of a disturbing lawsuit filed by a former employee accusing him of sexual abuse, assault and trafficking.

“Company executives cannot enter into material agreements on behalf of the company they serve and withhold that information from the company’s control functions and auditor,” said Thomas P. Smith Jr., Associate Regional Director in the New York Regional Office.