JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For the first time since 1982, Vince K. McMahon will no longer be solely in charge of World Wrestling Entertainment.
He purchased the company — then called the World Wide Wrestling Federation — from his father and changed it to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) then years later World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as it’s known today.
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The merger with UFC’s parent company Endeavor is set to be executed on Tuesday. At that point, McMahon will be a minority shareholder in the newly formed entity called TKO.
He will own 49% of the voting shares while Ari Emanuel, who is CEO of Endeavor, will hold 51%. While McMahon will not legally be the majority owner of the company, it’s been reported he will remain in charge of the wrestling side of the company. Endeavor will head up the UFC side.
The merger was valued at an estimated $21 Billion earlier this year with WWE’s value around $9 Billion.
This is the end of an era for the industry of pro wrestling with Vince McMahon, who is now in his late 70s, no longer the most powerful man in the industry of pro wrestling.
His family has been promoting wrestling and boxing matches since the early to mid 1900s starting with his grandfather Jess McMahon in New York City. Then his father Vincent K. McMahon eventually founded the WWF before selling it to Vince Jr.
The McMahon children (Stephanie & Shane) have had large roles in the company for decades as has Stephanie’s real-life husband Paul Levesque (better known as Triple H) as the company’s chief content officer.
The McMahon lineage in pro wrestling was detailed in depth on episode 2 of the “Going Ringside” Podcast.
While McMahon will retain operational control for the time being of WWE it’s unclear how long that will last post-merger. McMahon temporarily retired following a sexual harassment scandal but still retained a majority of voting shares on the WWE Board during that time. He returned earlier this year to help execute the sale of WWE.