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At Wrestlemania 40 this past weekend, WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque took to the stage at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and opened the events by declaring it a “new era” for the company.
It was the first Wrestlemania to be held under the ownership of TKO Group Holdings, formed when Endeavor spun out its UFC business and merged it with the WWE last year. And it was the first Wrestlemania in the WWE’s history without Vince McMahon behind the curtain, with the executive exiting the company in January after being hit with a lawsuit alleging battery and sex trafficking.
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Now, McMahon – who remains the largest outside shareholder in the company – is taking another step toward a more complete break from the sports entertainment firm.
On Monday, TKO and Endeavor disclosed that McMahon is selling some $311.2 million worth of stock in the company, $165 million to TKO in a stock repurchase plan (TKO plans to retire the stock, as is typical with stock buybacks); and $146.2 million to WME IMG Inc., the subsidiary of Endeavor that owns the majority stake in TKO.
The company bought the shares from McMahon at a price of $89.01, per a regulatory filing with the SEC, and the transactions should close this week. The net result of the TKO buyback and Endeavor purchase will be to increase Endeavor’s ownership stake in the company ever so slightly.
McMahon has been a seller of TKO stock before, even before his exit from the company. Late last year after the deal closed he filed to sell some $700 million in shares, with TKO buying back about $100 million in that sale, and other insiders like TKO CEO Ari Emanuel and TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro also buying about $1 million each.
In addition to handing Triple H creative control, TKO has also brought Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on as a board member. The Rock also participated in the main event of night one at this year’s Wrestlemania, teaming with Roman Reigns to defeat Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.
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