Vince McMahon Settles with SEC for $1.7 Million Over Hush Money Agreements – Vince McMahon has resolved charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to his failure to disclose settlement payments totaling $10.5 million to two women.
The announcement, made Friday, confirmed that McMahon agreed to a $400,000 civil penalty and will reimburse WWE $1.33 million. According to the SEC, McMahon circumvented WWE’s internal accounting controls, leading to material misstatements in financial reports from 2018 to 2021. The financial impact included overstating net income by approximately 8% in 2018 and 1.7% in 2021. McMahon settled without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings.
The undisclosed payments included $3 million to a former WWE employee and $7.5 million to an independent contractor, intended to prevent them from filing claims against him.
Previously, The Wall Street Journal reported McMahon had paid $12 million over 16 years to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.
In a statement, McMahon said:
“The case is closed. Today ends nearly three years of investigation by different governmental agencies. There has been a great deal of speculation about what exactly the government was investigating and what the outcome would be. As today’s resolution shows, much of that speculation was misguided and misleading. 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. I’m thrilled that I can now put all this behind me.”
McMahon recently resigned from all roles within TKO Group Holdings, including Executive Chairman and member of the Board of Directors, following a lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant. The lawsuit, which also names John Laurinaitis, includes serious allegations that McMahon has denied.
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Vince McMahon Settles with SEC for $1.7 Million Over Hush Money Agreements
