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After roughly 70 years of being in the control of the McMahon family, WWE was sold to Endeavor Group Holdings on Monday.
WWE and UFC, which is owned by Endeavor, are merging to form a $21 billion “global live sports and entertainment company.” With the transaction, UFC was valued at $12.1 billion, and WWE had a valuation of $9.3 billion.
“Together, we will be a $21-plus billion live sports and entertainment powerhouse with a collective fanbase of more than a billion people and an exciting growth opportunity,” WWE executive chairman Vince McMahon said.
“The new company will be well positioned to maximize the value of our combined media rights, enhance sponsorship monetization, develop new forms of content and pursue other strategic mergers and acquisitions to further bolster our strong stable of brands.”
Endeavor will have a 51 percent controlling interest, with the remaining 49 percent spread across WWE’s shareholders.
Vincent K. McMahon’s grandfather, Jess McMahon, and father, Vincent J. McMahon, founded the Capitol Wrestling Corporation in 1953, which later became the World Wide Wrestling Federation and then the World Wrestling Federation.
In 1982, Vincent J. McMahon sold WWE to his son, and it morphed into a global powerhouse that became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999.
Due largely to its massive television deals with NBCUniversal and Fox, WWE has been more profitable than ever in recent years, which positioned it well to maximize value in a sale.
While fans and analysts have been bracing for a sale, the focus now shifts toward what it will mean for the product moving forward.
McMahon’s role in the company and Triple H’s status as head of creative are two things that will have to be determined by the buyer, provided they haven’t been decided already.