Vince McMahon, SEC, reaches $1.7 million settlement over hush money payments

Vince McMahon, co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday for failing to disclose two payments made on his behalf and on behalf of the company.

The former WWE CEO was accused of paying hush money to two people in 2019 and 2022 to prevent them from filing formal claims against him in court.

According to the SEC order, one settlement agreement obligated McMahon to pay a former employee $3 million in exchange for her silence regarding ongoing relationships with McMahon, and the second agreement obligated McMahon to pay a former WWE independent contractor $7.5 million in exchange for the independent contractor’s approval. An agreement not to disclose her allegations against McMahon and to release her from potential claims against WWE.

Because of the two payments, WWE overstated its 2018 net income by about 8 percent and its 2021 net income by about 1.7 percent.

“Corporate executives cannot enter into material agreements on behalf of the company they serve and withhold that information from the company’s monitoring and auditor functions,” Thomas P. Smith Jr., associate regional director in the New York regional office, said in a statement.

The SEC said in its statement that McMahon neither admitted nor denied guilt but agreed to pay a civil fine of $400,000 and compensate WWE in the amount of $1,330,915.90.

“Ultimately, there was nothing more than simple accounting errors regarding some personal payments I made several years ago while I was CEO of WWE. I’m glad I can now To put all this behind me.”

WWE and McMahon did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

McMahon’s wife, Linda, was recently named in a lawsuit alleging the company allowed a ringside announcer to sexually abuse young boys for years. They have both denied the allegations.

Linda currently leads President-elect Trump’s transition team and has been nominated to head the Department of Education during his second term.