WWE chairman Vince McMahon is under investigation by the company’s board regarding a $3 million settlement he agreed to pay to a former employee with whom he allegedly had an affair, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Joe Palazzolo and Ted Mann.
“The board’s investigation, which began in April, has unearthed other, older nondisclosure agreements involving claims by former female WWE employees of misconduct by Mr. McMahon and one of his top executives, John Laurinaitis, the head of talent relations at WWE, the people said. The Journal couldn’t determine how many previous agreements were being scrutinized.”
Palazzolo and Mann reported members of WWE’s board received anonymous emails detailing the $3 million payment, which was allegedly paid for by McMahon with his personal funds.
The agreement effectively prevents the woman from discussing her relationship with McMahon, or from making critical statements about him.
A spokesperson for the company told the WSJ that the relationship between the two was consensual. The author of the emails said the woman was first hired and given a $100,000 salary. The friend said the woman’s salary then rose to $200,000 after she started a sexual relationship with McMahon.
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Financially, the 76-year-old WWE CEO’s company has been doing great. The company reported record-high revenues of $1.1 billion and an operating income of $259 million from its 2021 fiscal year. The revenue for the first quarter of 2022 was $333.4 million, its highest ever for a single quarter.
However, the company has released a significant number of wrestlers across 2021, and the departures have continued into 2022.
Shane McMahon is no longer employed with WWE while Stephanie McMahon announced in May she was taking a leave of absence. Her husband, retired star Triple H, underwent surgery following a “cardiac event” last September.
