TKO Executive Chairman of the Board Vince McMahon is seen during a ceremony announcing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has joined the Board of Directors for TKO at New York Stock Exchange on January 23, 2024 in New York City.
Michelle Farsi | UFC | Getty Images
Former WWE boss Vince McMahon has settled charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission related to his failure to disclose to the pro wrestling company’s board settlement agreements totaling $10.5 million with two women on behalf of himself and the WWE, the SEC announced Friday.
McMahon agreed to pay a $400,000 civil penalty and reimburse the WWE $1.33 million after consenting to an order finding that he violated the Securities Exchange Act, the SEC said.
The SEC said that McMahon’s failure to inform the WWE’s board, legal department, accountants or auditor of the settlements “circumvented WWE’s system of internal accounting controls and caused material misstatements in WWE’s 2018 and 2021 financial statements.”
One of the settlement agreements obligated McMahon to pay $3 million to a former WWE employee in exchange for her silence about a relationship with him and her releasing potential legal claims against McMahon and the company.
That woman was not named. But former WWE employee Janel Grant last year filed a federal lawsuit against McMahon, accusing him of sexual assault and trafficking, and alleging that he had agreed to pay her $3 million as part of a nondisclosure agreement. Grant says McMahon only ended up paying her $1 million.
The other deal required McMahon to pay a former independent contractor for WWE who alleged that “McMahon assaulted her and derailed her career after she refused to engage in a sexual relationship with him,” according to the SEC order.
The SEC said that because the agreements with the women were not recorded, WWE overstated its net income for 2018 by about 8% and its 2021 net income by about 1.7%.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
