Vince McMahon, the longtime chairman and chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, announced on Friday that he had retired, a month after stepping down from both posts while the company’s board investigated allegations of misconduct against him.
Mr. McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon, who was appointed interim chairwoman and chief executive last month, will continue to serve as chairwoman and as co-chief executive with Nick Khan, who recently served as president and chief revenue officer of W.W.E., the company said in a statement.
Mr. McMahon is departing after The Wall Street Journal reported in June that the board of W.W.E. had been looking since April into a $3 million settlement that he agreed to pay to an employee with whom he was said to have had an affair.
The Journal also reported that the board’s investigation had unearthed older nondisclosure agreements involving claims of misconduct against Mr. McMahon and another executive. A lawyer for Mr. McMahon told The Journal that the former employee had not made claims of harassment against him, and said that “W.W.E. did not pay any monies” to the former employee “on her departure.”
A representative for W.W.E., asked why Mr. McMahon was retiring, provided a link to Mr. McMahon’s statement, in which he mentioned his age.
Mr. McMahon took over the company, then called Capitol Wrestling Corporation, from his father, Vince Sr., in 1982 and built it into a television and live-event business while playing a starring role in the entertainment. In 2008, The New York Times said many knew him as “a broad-shouldered, insult-spewing narrator in the ring.” Mr. McMahon was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that same year.
Based in Stamford, Conn., the company reported more than $1 billion in revenue for 2021. W.W.E. says it stages some 500 live events a year, and its programs are aired in 30 languages and are distributed through NBCUniversal and Fox Sports, among others.
