The new co-CEOs of WWE are Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon. In addition, Stephanie will serve as the company’s chairwoman.
This information was released soon after Vince McMahon declared his retirement from the business at the age of 77. Vince no longer serves as the chairman and CEO of WWE, the company he grew into a powerhouse in the world of entertainment. For his complete statement on retiring, click here.
Khan previously served as the WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer, while Stephanie served as the Chief Brand Officer. However, Stephanie was recently named the Interim CEO and Chairwoman while the WWE Board of Investigators looked into allegations of misconduct against her father and the head of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis.
As PWMania.com previously reported, Paul “Triple H” Levesque is now in charge of the Talent Relations division. He was appointed as the company’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations. Prior to holding that position, Triple H served as the Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development for WWE. A few years ago, he held the position of Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events & Creative.
According to PWInsider, Vince reportedly decided to retire “about a week or so ago.” According to one source, the final choice was made in private about ten days ago. Shortly after Vince’s retirement was decided upon, the decision was made to make Stephanie and Khan the co-CEO.
A small group of people knew of the retirement ahead of time, and shockwaves are still vibrating throughout WWE HQ and beyond, PWInsider reports. There is a lot of shock around the company, especially among long-term workers who genuinely never imagined working for the company on a day when Vince wasn’t in charge.
Brock Lesnar has reportedly left tonight’s WWE SmackDown, click here for our reports on that situation.
For tonight’s SmackDown in Boston, Stephanie, Triple H, and Khan are all backstage. We will provide details from a meeting with performers that was set for 5 p.m. ET. Tonight’s taping will be overseen by WWE Senior Vice President and RAW/SmackDown Executive Vice President Bruce Prichard and Executive Producer and Chief of Global Television Distribution Kevin Dunn.
Vince wasn’t in Boston today and won’t be officially involved in the creative process going ahead.
The WWE Board of Directors recently started looking into McMahon and Laurinaitis over allegations of misbehavior, which led to today’s significant shake-up. More allegations are reportedly coming but have not yet been confirmed, and mainstream media sources, including HBO’s Real Sports, are now drafting new articles regarding the allegations.
As we’ve mentioned, the “secret $3 million settlement” that Vince made to the former paralegal who was hired in 2019 was the subject of an inquiry by the WWE Board of Directors, which was first made public on Wednesday, June 15. Laurinaitis’ role was also under investigation, and it was made known that the Board was also looking into other incidents involving former female employees. On Friday, June 17, it was revealed that Stephanie had returned from her leave of absence to serve as the interim CEO and chairwoman after Vince willingly stepped down from his Chairman & CEO corporate obligations while still maintaining his creative responsibilities. On Monday, June 20, it was made public that Prichard, Senior Vice President of WWE and Executive Producer of RAW/SmackDown, had been acting in Laurinaitis’ place as Interim Senior Vice President of Talent Relations while the inquiry was ongoing. Then, on Friday, July 8, it came to light that Vince had consented to give more than $12 million in “hush money” to four women, one of whom was a former wrestler. As of today, July 22, Paul “Triple H” Levesque has been named the new WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, and Prichard is no longer serving in that capacity. Vince was the first to confirm that Stephanie is the new Chairwoman & Co-CEO, along with Co-CEO Khan, while Vince’s resignation was announced hours after Triple H’s new position was revealed.
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more.
