Vince McMahon to Pay $1.7M in SEC Settlement Over Undisclosed Payments

Vince McMahon, co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), has agreed to pay more than $1.7 million to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for failing to disclose payments related to sexual misconduct allegations. The SEC announced the settlement on Friday, stating that McMahon circumvented WWE’s internal accounting controls, leading to material misstatements in the company’s 2018 and 2021 financial statements.

The SEC alleged that McMahon failed to disclose a $3 million payment to a former WWE employee and a $7.5 million payment to a female independent contractor in exchange for their silence regarding claims against him. These undisclosed payments caused WWE to overstate its 2018 net income by approximately 8% and its 2021 net income by 1.7%. McMahon agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying the findings, paying a $400,000 civil penalty and reimbursing WWE approximately $1.33 million.

“Company executives cannot enter into material agreements on behalf of the company they serve and withhold that information from the company’s control functions and auditor,” said Thomas P. Smith Jr., Associate Regional Director of the SEC’s New York office, in a statement.

McMahon, 79, released a statement calling the case a resolution of “minor accounting errors” related to personal payments made during his tenure as WWE CEO. “The case is closed. Today ends nearly three years of investigation by different governmental agencies,” McMahon said. “In the end, there was never anything more to this than minor accounting errors with regard to some personal payments that I made several years ago while I was CEO of WWE.”

The settlement follows a January lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant, who accused McMahon of sexual assault and trafficking. Grant alleged that McMahon agreed to pay her $3 million as part of a nondisclosure agreement but only paid $1 million. McMahon resigned as executive chairman of TKO Group, WWE’s parent company, shortly after the lawsuit was filed.

The SEC’s order also revealed that McMahon received incentive-based compensation and profits from the sale of WWE stock during the 12-month period following the filing of the misstated financial statements. McMahon has not fully reimbursed WWE for these profits, violating Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

McMahon and his wife, Linda McMahon, a former WWE CEO and head of the Small Business Administration under President Donald Trump, have been prominent figures in both the wrestling and political worlds. The settlement comes as Linda McMahon prepares for Senate confirmation hearings for a potential role in President-elect Trump’s Cabinet.