76-year-old WWE chairman Vince McMahon is reportedly being investigated by other top execs in the company for allegedly paying a former employee to stay quiet about their affair.
Wall Street Journal reported that the WWE chief executive coughed up US$3million of his own money after the person-in-question penned a nondisclosure agreement to keep quiet about what went on.
It’s understood the separation agreement was signed in January 2022, but the WWE’s probe into the matter has also dug up a series of other signed settlements relating to misconduct claims from female employees down the years.
76-year-old McMahon is married to Linda McMahon, who also co-founded the company. According to the report, the board learned of the payment through an anonymous email sent by someone describing themselves as the woman’s friend.
It read; Board members learned of the $3 million agreement in a series of anonymous emails they received from someone who said the former WWE paralegal was a friend.
The first email, sent to board members on March 30, alleged that Mr. McMahon, 76 years old, initially hired the woman at a salary of $100,000 but increased it to $200,000 after beginning a sexual relationship with her. The email to the board also alleged that Mr. McMahon “gave her like a toy” to Mr. Laurinaitis. The board is investigating the allegations in the email, the people familiar with the inquiry said.
The directors received a copy of the $3 million agreement from one of Mr. McMahon’s lawyers on June 12, one person familiar with the inquiry said. The nondisclosure agreement provided an upfront payment of $1 million to the former employee, with the remaining $2 million to be doled out over a period of five years, people familiar with the deal said.
What’s interesting is the WWE board is partially made up of Vince and his family. His daughter Stephanie McMahon who recently stepped away from the company to spend time with her fam and her husband Triple H (Paul Levesque), as well as WWE President Nick Khan, are all on the board.
The 8 other members have hired a New York City law firm to investigate the situation with VM and the ex-employee.
McMahon is yet to comment, although a spokesperson from the WWE told the Wall Street Journal that the chief executive’s relationship with the woman was consensual. An inquiry is still underway.
