Vince McMahon is reportedly keen on receiving a sum of $9 billion for WWE.
That is according to a report from Bloomberg which also claims the longtime owner may already be entertaining bids for his empire.
McMahon returned to WWE in January, placing himself back at the helm in a bid to oversee a sale after having stepped down in 2022 on the back of revelations pertaining to hush payments made to various females he was alleged to have had affairs with.
The 77-year-old had maintained his position as the company’s controlling shareholder while away, with his daughter Stephanie and her husband Paul Levesque running things in his absence.
Per Front Office sports, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is the frontrunner where bidders are concerned. WWE has a good working relationship with the Kingdom, where they are contracted to hold two shows every year following an agreement over a 10-year, $100 million contract.
The group faces competition from other companies, however, including Endeavor Group, Amazon, Disney, and NBCUniversal.
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Bloomberg has inferred that McMahon might struggle to find buyers at the aforementioned price.
“Yet McMahon may not find many buyers eager to pay his price considering the shaky global economy and rising interest rates,” the publication reports.
“A valuation of $9 billion amounts to about seven times the company’s $1.29 billion in sales last year, and 23 times its adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization, both at the high end for the entertainment industry.”
