Shareholders File Lawsuit Against WWE Executives For Acts Against Their Best Interests
Photo by Andrew Toth/FilmMagic
WWE now has yet another lawsuit on its hands.
On April 24, Ryan Merholz and Melvyn Klein, two WWE shareholders, filed a lawsuit against WWE and many of its top Executives including Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Frank Riddick III, and George Barrios, who was released from his position as co-president of WWE in early 2020.
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A heavy focus in the lawsuit is placed on WWE’s dealings with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In an outlined timeline of events, The lawsuit connects WWE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia to disappointing Financial results released by WWE just this past week in the Q1 2020 earnings report.
“The Company’s most senior executives and directors took advantage of WWE’s inflated stock price to sell millions of dollars’ worth of their own WWE shares during this time period. In a single stock sale on March 27, 2019, WWE’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chairman of the Board, Defendant V. McMahon, sold more than 3.2 million WWE shares for over $261 million in proceeds. This sale occurred when there were only a few days left in the Company’s 2019 first quarter which insiders knew was experiencing poor financial performance and despite growing behind-the-scenes problems with the Saudis.”
The lawsuit also includes mention of the rumors that WWE wrestlers were held hostage in Saudi Arabia following an altercation between Vince McMahon and the Saudi Arabian government.
“WWE held the Crown Jewel live event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After the event ended, shocking news reports surfaced claiming that the Saudi government was effectively holding a number of WWE wrestlers “hostage” in retaliation for McMahon’s decision to delay a live broadcast of Crown Jewel until the Saudis made tens of millions of dollars in past due payments. Estimates for the amount outstanding ranged from $60 million to as much as $500 million. Several wrestlers detailed their experience during the ordeal on social media platforms”
You can view the entire lawsuit at this link. (credit to Heel By Nature)
Far from the only lawsuit that WWE executives are facing currently, Vince McMahon was also recently sued by former XFL President Oliver Luck on the grounds of wrongful termination. Learn more at this link.