The Securities and Exchange Commission says it has settled charges against former WWE CEO Vince McMahon over his failure to disclose to the sports entertainment company’s board and others that he signed two settlement agreements worth $10.5 million with two women in order for them not to reveal potential claims against himself and WWE.
The SEC said McMahon, without admitting or denying its findings, agreed to cease-and-desist from violating certain provisions, pay a $400,000 civil penalty and reimburse WWE approximately $1.3 million.
“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,” McMahon said in a statement. “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.”
Manhattan federal prosecutors declined to comment.
McMahon resigned from WWE’s parent company in January 2024 after a former employee filed a federal lawsuit accusing him and another…
