The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced today that Vince McMahon has agreed to settle charges related to undisclosed agreements he executed on behalf of WWE when he was the company’s CEO and Chairman. The government entity that oversees disclosures of publicly traded companies found that McMahon “violated the Securities and 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.”
As a result, McMahon has been fined $400,000 and will reimburse WWE for $1,330,915,90, according to the SEC’s press release. While not admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, the agency’s statement said McMahon also agreed to cease and desist from violating the government rules.
These agreements, signed in 2019 and 2022, caused WWE to improperly report its financial statements to the SEC for 2018 and 2021.
The 2019 agreement was for $7.5 million in exchange for an independent contractor’s agreement not to disclose her allegations against McMahon and to release him and WWE of any claims. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2022 that McMahon agreed to pay a former WWE talent, whose name has not been disclosed, $7.5 million as part of a nondisclosure settlement. McMahon allegedly coerced the former talent into giving him oral sex, demoted her when she rejected his further advances, then later in 2005 her contract was not renewed.
The 2022 agreement, for $3 million, was presumably with former WWE paralegal Janel Grant, though the SEC’s statement does not name her. Grant alleges she was sexual assaulted and trafficked by McMahon throughout their relationship from 2019 to early 2022.
The errors in WWE’s financial reporting caused the company to overstate its net income by 8% in 2018, the SEC stated, and by 1.7% in 2021.
McMahon provided a statement to POST Wrestling seeming to undermine the notion, reported in 2024 by the Wall Street Journal, that the Southern District of New York (SDNY) was investigating him related to allegations of sexual assault and sex trafficking.
“The case is closed,” McMahon claimed.
“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.”
A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York declined our request on Friday for comment.
McMahon added: “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’s representatives have not yet responded to a follow-up question from POST regarding whether McMahon denies being under investigation by the SDNY for sex trafficking and sexual assault claims.
Grant’s lead attorney, Ann Callis provided a statement on Friday after this story broke, insisting that the criminal investigation is still on.
“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,” Callis said.
She added: “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.”
McMahon, WWE, and former executive John Laurinaitis are defendants in an ongoing federal lawsuit filed by Janel Grant in January 2024, which alleges McMahon trafficked and sexually assaulted her, and that McMahon and Laurinaitis also assaulted her in WWE headquarters, among other claims. The defendants are currently seeking to have the lawsuit moved out of public court and into private arbitration pursuant to a clause in the agreement signed by McMahon and Grant.
Two additional agreements were made with former WWE employees to prevent them from bringing claims against the former CEO or his company. McMahon reportedly paid $1 million each to a former WWE employee in 2006 and another former contractor in 2008. WWE’s filings with the SEC in 2022 related to McMahon’s previously unreported payments are consistent with accounting for these amounts, as well as the settlements with Grant and the former talent.
In early 2023, it was reported that McMahon also came to a multimillion dollar settlement with former WWF referee Rita Chatterton, who alleges that McMahon raped her in 1986.
Related to account issues, WWE also disclosed that the company should have reported expenses totaling $5 million not related to NDAs. The Journal reported those payments were made to the Trump Foundation related to Donald Trump’s onscreen appearances for WWE at Wrestlemania in 2007 and two appearances on Monday Night Raw in 2009.
