On Friday, January 10th, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that Vince McMahon, former executive chairman and CEO of WWE, will be made to pay more than $1.7 million in a settlement. This settlement addresses McMahon’s failure to disclose charges regarding so-called “hush money” payment agreements made related to sexual assault charges, including to Janel Grant, who has an ongoing lawsuit against him.
Vince McMahon Settlement – SEC Settles Charges for $1.7M
According to the SEC’s press release, today’s settling of charges factors in two signed settlement agreements by Vince McMahon, one in 2019 and one in 2022, “on behalf of himself and WWE without disclosing the agreements to WWE’s Board of Directors, legal department, accountants, financial reporting personnel, or auditor. Doing so circumvented WWE’s system of internal accounting controls and caused material misstatements in WWE’s 2018 and 2021 financial statements.”
Additionally, the SEC’s release notes that McMahon’s failure to disclose two settlement agreements, valued at over $10M, led to WWE overinflating its net income by approximately eight percent in 2018 and 1.7 percent in 2021. After WWE was made aware of the settlement agreements, the company reissued its financial statements in August 2022, to reflect the appropriate net profits.
Under the SEC’s findings, McMahon was responsible for WWE’s violations of the reporting of books and records provisions of the Exchange Act. He was in violation of the Securities Exchange Act by “knowingly circumventing WWE’s internal accounting controls and that he directly or indirectly made or caused to be made false or misleading statements to WWE’s auditor.” Through the Vince McMahon settlement, he has already agreed to pay a $400,000 civil penalty while reimbursing WWE over $1.3M pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
In response to the SEC’s findings, McMahon released the following statement on X:
“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.”
However, it may not all be behind Vince McMahon as he wishfully thinks despite this settlement with the SEC. Also in response to the SEC filings, on behalf of her representation, Janel Grant, who filed a lawsuit against McMahon, issued its statement:
“During his time leading WWE, Vince McMahon acted as if rules did not apply to him, and now we have confirmation that he repeatedly broke the law to cover up his horrifying behavior, including human trafficking. The SEC’s charges prove that the NDA Vince McMahon coerced Ms. Grant into signing violates the law, and therefore her case must be heard in court. While prosecutors for the Southern District of New York continue their criminal investigation, we look forward to bringing forward new evidence in our civil case about the sexual exploitation Ms. Grant endured at WWE by Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis.”
Grant’s lawsuit against McMahon outlined a series of sexual assault and trafficking allegations, ultimately serving as the catalyst that led him to step down as chairman of TKO and away from all things related to WWE. According to her representation, the Janel Grant lawsuit remains active.
According to the Wall Street Journal, McMahon has paid $12M to four women, over 16 years, to hide allegations of sexual assault, misconduct, and infidelity.
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