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Vince McMahon has settled with the SEC.
In 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that McMahon paid $12 million to suppress alleged sexual misconduct and infidelity over 16 years. WWE announced in November 2022 that their investigation into this alleged misconduct was complete.
As reported by Rob Wile of NBC News, The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on January 10th that Vince McMahon would pay more than $1.7 million regarding charges that he did not disclose payment agreements to WWE’s Board of Directors, legal department, accountants, financial reporting personnel, or auditor related to sexual assault charges.
In their announcement, the SEC stated that McMahon “circumvented WWE’s system of internal accounting controls and caused material misstatements in WWE’s 2018 and 2021 financial statements.”
Furthermore, the SEC stated that Vince McMahon agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings. McMahon will pay a $400,000 civil penalty, and he will reimburse WWE $1,330,915.90.
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Thomas P. Smith Jr., Associate Regional Director in the New York Regional Office, commented on the matter in a statement:
“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,” Thomas P. Smith Jr., Associate Regional Director in the New York Regional Office.
In their report, the SEC alleged that Vince McMahon did not disclose a $3 million payment to a former WWE employee and another $7.5 million paid to a “former WWE independent contractor” in exchange for their agreement to not disclose her allegations against McMahon and her release of potential claims against WWE and McMahon. Per the SEC, WWE “overstated its 2018 net income by approximately 8 percent and its 2021 net income by approximately 1.7 percent” as a result.
Vince McMahon Issues Statement
McMahon then issued a statement on Twitter.
“The case is closed. Today ends nearly three years of investigation by different governmental agencies,” Vince McMahon wrote. “There has been a great deal of speculation about what exactly the government was investigating and what the outcome would be. As today’s resolution shows, much of that speculation was misguided and misleading.
“In the end, there was never anything more to this than minor accounting errors with regard to some personal payments that I made several years ago while I was CEO of WWE. I’m thrilled that I can now put all this behind me.”
In January 2024, Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE, alleging that she was “the victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking at WWE.” McMahon has denied the allegations, but the case is ongoing.
