Je älter der gute Hunter Hearst Helmsley wird, desto sympathischer wird er mir.
Vielleicht geht er ja zu AEW, natürlich als Paul Levesque. 
Es ist anscheinend noch nichts in trockenen Tüchern:
1 „Gefällt mir“
Ja was denn nun 
„at this precise moment“
Hm… also irgendwo muss es ja herkommen. Und die Verbindung zu Saudi haben Sie nun einmal. Wundern würds mich leider nicht…
Der erste Shareholder hat nun auch schon Klage gegen Vince eingereicht:
Wenn es um Wrestling geht bewahrheiten sich Gerüchte oft.
Die Frage ist jetzt ob Vince sich durchsetzen kann ohne vor Gericht zu landen.
Das die Saudi Übernahme wahrscheinlich die schlechteste Option ist sollte klar sein. Allein bei der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung wird das bei den Verhandlungen eines neuen TV Deals mehrere hundert Millionen kosten.
Tony Khan und sein Vater potentielle Interessenten für WWE-Kauf:
Auch wenn ich mit AEW nicht so 100%ig warm geworden bin, besser als die Saudis wäre es auf jeden Fall.
Halte ich für nicht sehr realistisch. Ihr Vermögen wird auf 11.5 Milliarden beziffert, sie würden also nur in die WWE mehr als 3/4 davon in die WWE investieren müssen. Da müsste man sich schon sehr sicher sein, dass das erfolgsversprechend ist.
Allein das Gesicht von meinem Lieblingsheel MJF wäre den Deal wert.
Du meinst wenn er auf das Original The Miz trifft? 
AEW hat sich schon einen Namen gemacht als ernstzunehmende WWE-Alternative. Wenn jetzt das „Mastermind“ dahinter die Ressourcen und vor allem alle Wrestler*innen der WWE bekommt, dann wird das sicher kein Flop. Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania ziehen immer und das Crossover-Potential ist enorm.
Ich weiß aber nicht, wie ich es finden soll, dass dann alles größere amerikanische Wrestling bei Khan ist. RoH hat er ja auch schon eine Weile und so viel spannendes ist da leider nicht passiert, die Fehde zwischen FTR und den Broncos hatte großartige Matches, aber storytechnisch war da kaum was los und die RoH-Gürtel haben kaum noch Bedeutung.
Weil MJF sich in seiner Storyline doch so sehr darauf freut, dass 2024 die AEW und die WWF um ihn ein Wettbieten veranstalten.
Und jetzt stelle ich mir vor, wie Schluffi Tony Khan um die Ecke schlackert und einfach sagt: „Wir haben die WWE gekauft.“
Und anschließend startet dann die Fehde mit The Miz - gemanaged von William Regal -, wer von beiden der heeligste Heel ist.
Ich würde mich wegschmeißen vor Lachen.
Was wohl Chris Jericho dazu sagt?
„You’re on the list!“ vielleicht. 
Seit der Liste hatte er doch schon 4 andere Gimmicks ^^
Eben drum. Er macht zum Ende seiner In-Ring-Karriere noch mal ein Medley seiner besten Gimmicks. Und: Die Liste war geil.
Die hatte er grade etabliert, als ich angefangen habe Wrestling zu gucken. Die Liste hat immer einen Platz in meinem Herzen.
Ehrlich gesagt ne ziemlich schlimme Vorstellung für mich. Wieder die Situation einer Über-Company zu haben mit kaum echten Alternativen für die Wrestler*innen.
Ich glaube auch eher, dass egal wer kauft, bezahlt das keiner aus der Portokasse. Solche Summen werden ja dennoch parallel mitfinanziert (keine Quellen, nur vermutung) und trotzdem ein großer Batzen Eigenkapital
Außer halt der PIF. Deren Kapital liegt bei 600+ Milliarden.
Und ich würde nach wie vor solche Player wie Google, Disney oder amazon nicht ausschließen, gerade amazon möchte ja im Live-Bereich mehr machen.
Aber bezügliche PIF: Die Saudis versuchen sich momentan im Sportbereich sehr reinzufuchsen. Man hat eine Golfliga mit vielen Stars gegründet, hat Newcastle United gekauft, es geht um verschiedene amerikanische Sportfranchises. Da wäre das kein ganz unlogischer Schritt, da es Gerüchte um einen eigenen Streaming-Dienst gibt. Man hat aber auch schon Anteile an verschiedenen TV-Sendern in den USA und Europa.
Man ist ja zB. auch 100%iger Besitzer der größten E-Sport-Ligen (ESL zB).
Dazu hat man gar nicht mal so geringe Anteile an den größten Investmentunternehmen der Welt (JP Morgan), bei Automobilherstellern (Ford), oder auch großen Firmen der Gamingbranche (Nintendo, EA, Microsoft).
Wir haben täglich mit Firmen, in denen der PIF Anteilseigner ist zu tun. PayPal, Google, Microsoft. Das bekommen wir ja gar nicht mit. Eine ESL hat sich nun nicht groß durch die neuen Eigentümer verändert, also muss das eine WWE auch nicht zwingend.
Bisherige Zusammenfassung von Dave Meltzer:
One of the craziest weeks in WWE history finished with Vince McMahon back as Chairman of the Board by a unanimous vote of a Board of Directors that saw six of the previous members either leave or be replaced during the week.
It also included Stephanie McMahon departing the company just days after she had assured everyone at an employees meeting that the management team of herself, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque and Frank Riddick would remain in tact running the company.
Based on those within WWE who have talked with us and other key reporters, Khan is the man running the company in his role as sole CEO. He is right now making all the final decisions. Vince McMahon as Chairman is in an official capacity, only working on selling the company, and they are targeting doing it by the summer, although there is no guarantee it will be sold. Vince McMahon’s role would also include being part of the negotiations and making the final decision on the next media rights deals, which would be up at the end of September of 2024. There is also no guarantee either of those things will stay the same. For now, McMahon has not been to the office nor at television. The fear in some places that McMahon will maneuver himself back to running the company or heading creative, and be in charge of hiring and firing is not the case today. That doesn’t mean things won’t change.
McMahon has not been working out of the office, nor has he been to television tapings since his return.
McMahon essentially used his voting shares to turn over the Board of Directors, and force himself into being a key person in those two negotiations by making it clear he would not approve of any sale of television rights deal unless he was put back into power. Because of his voting shares, he had the ability to hold up such a deal, which would subject the company to major problems because he wouldn’t be acting in the best interest of the other stockholders.
On 12/27, the board, as it was then, unanimously voted to not allow McMahon back in the company. Among the things cited were that there were things they knew that had not become public from the internal investigation, and also they thought it was bad to bring him back when the SEC was also investigating him. McMahon replaced three of the board members himself, and three others quit the company, two of them publicly saying it was because McMahon returned.
Those that have expressed interest in purchasing the company include Comcast/NBCU, which on the surface makes the most sense given the amount of money they pay for Raw and the former WWE Network (close to $500 million per year and add at least $200 million more for them to get Smackdown, which has been a major money loser for FOX). The only companies currently in the running that would take it private is the Saudi Public Investment Fund or perhaps an offer from a group headed by the other Khan family, Shahid and AEW President and CEO Tony.
But the belief is besides having almost unlimited wealth and a history of spending big in its sports and entertainment ventures, Saudi Arabia would be fine with Vince McMahon in control and would worry the least if more things come out on him. They also own large stakes in EA, Activision Blizzard and Live Nation. Some have tried to tie in Stephanie’s resignation to the fact that women are considered second-class in Saudi Arabia. Disney and Netflix are also considered suitors.
CNBC reported that the Khan family was willing to have Vince be a part of the company if they purchased it, and even brought up the idea of a merger of both the AEW and WWE brands, but also labeled that as a longshot. That story said that there have been no discussions between Tony or Shahid Khan with Vince McMahon or Nick Khan regarding such a deal.
Nick Khan on 1/9 was in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium for the college national championship game and met with a number of key people in the sports and entertainment world, including Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, and Jimmy Pitaro, who heads ESPN.
Endeavor, which owns UFC, is another confirmed suitor. Because the two businesses have many similarities, they could save money on staffing by having people working in both divisions. It has been reported that Endeavor would want Paul Levesque to remain as head of creative, but that as shown with the lack of punishment of Dana White, that they would also be fine with scandal-ridden Vince McMahon running the company.
Analysts have noted Comcast, worth $164 billion, would have the capability of pulling off a deal that analysts are estimating would cost $7.4 billion to $8.2 billion, with others saying WWE is hoping for $8.5 billion. Saudi Arabia, Amazon Prime, Disney and Netflix would as well. Endeavor or the Khan Family would need to work with other business partners, as Endeavor did with its purchase of UFC.
Those numbers and the excitement of a sale boosted share prices on 1/12 to close at $89.34 per share and give he company a market value of $6.647 billion.
Netflix could use WWE programming to get more heavily into the live broadcasting business, and Amazon Prime would also theoretically be in a similar boat to add to live programming.
The financial journal Barrons reported that All Elite Wrestling is one of the companies with interest in purchasing WWE. If this were to take place, they said Shahid Khan, Tony’s father, would likely get outside financing along with AEW to make a bid. In the 2016 UFC sale, most of the high bidders were a combination of money from various entities working together and not just one company. Tony Khan didn’t comment on either report of AEW and his family being interested, although obviously it is a story he is following closely. There could be an issue regarding creation of almost a monopoly in the business if the Khans are in control of everything, but that never played a part in UFC’s purchase of Strikeforce which created a somewhat similar situation at the time. Similarly WWF’s purchase of WCW led to no antitrust scrutiny even though it created a virtual monopoly of the U.S. industry.
Still, just from an ego standpoint, it would be very difficult for Vince McMahon to agree to a sale to a Tony Khan group.
WWE announced it has hired The Raine Group, LLC as financial advisors for the sale, Kirkland & Ellis LLP as legal advisors and August LLP as strategic communication advisors. The Raine Group was part of the UFC sale to Endeavor in 2016 as well as other sports sales. Kirkland & Ellis LLP had been representing Vince McMahon of late.
Rumors spread throughout wrestling on 1/10 that the company had been sold to the government of Saudi Arabia. In the case of something like this, literally only the top people who know and they would not say anything until the sale was finalized, which takes time. Ariel Helwani, who agent at one point was Nick Khan, reported the next day that there was no sale and the company wasn’t going to be sold to Saudi Arabia and WWE contacted other reporters with the same information. Those at WWE said that Saudi Arabia was in the running but not the favorite.
The rumors were all over wrestling, and led to a ton of concern among WWE talent hearing them. This included those working the live television taping for NXT where the mood was said to be very depressing as word got around during the actual filming of the show with the belief by many the story was true.
The next morning, several major business journals contacted WWE for a response, believing the company had been sold to Saudi Arabia based on chatter that was taking place on Twitter and reports by Bodyslam.net and DAZN (which later deleted the tweet) that the deal had been closed.
Having covered the UFC sale, even when the company had privately gotten word out and a number of companies were bidding and the bidding was closing in on $4 billion, Dana White denied both publicly and to his own employees that the company was for sale at all, when secretly it was very much for sale and most of the highest ranking employees knew nothing and were outright told the stories weren’t true. Similarly, when Strikeforce was sold, Scott Coker kept the news quiet until the deal was completed from even the key people involved with the company.
Stephanie McMahon, Khan and Riddick assured employees, and those in WWE told us that there would be no changes in management and Stephanie, Khan, Paul Levesque and Riddick would be the people in charge and Vince’s only role was to facilitate the sale and negotiate TV rights. Days later, Stephanie was gone and Vince was Chairman of the Board.
The point here is that until a sale is completed, where the negotiations are and who they are negotiating with will never be acknowledged. The company is obviously hoping for multiple bidders.
A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports wrote what he said was a well sourced story about the government of Saudi Arabia being a possible bidder. He said some of the same sources told him when the rumors were going crazy that a sale had been completed, that his sources said that no deal was that close to being done. “Doesn’t mean it won’t happen eventually but these things take time.”
If something does happen with Saudi Arabia, it leads to so many different questions regarding the future, including whether TV broadcasters would want to deal with them or other business partners would be squeamish. Those questions make it very questionable if that sale would be a good thing. Where the story build up steam is that if it was to be sold to Saudi Arabia and go private, and the company offices at the 1/6 meeting even told its employees the company could be taken private, it would mean there would be no SEC oversight of the company. The Saudi Arabia group would likely keep Vince McMahon in charge. It would also likely give them far more funds at their disposal. But the flip side would be attracting business partners and long-term exposure. LIV Golf, owned by Saudi Arabia, was unable to get a U.S. television deal even with many of the top golfers on its roster. There is talk they may have to buy a time slot to get coverage. However, almost everyone did business with the World Cup being held in Qatar. But the World Cup is also, along with the Olympics, the biggest sports event in the world. Because everyone willingly did business there doesn’t mean the same will happen with WWE, which is nowhere near at the same level. The Newcastle United soccer team in the EPL got a lot of heat for being sold and now owned by Saudi Arabia. But after media stories were written, it’s been largely business as usual with no sign of people not wanting to do business with them nor has their been any significant reaction from fans.
That example shows there will be a lot of media heat, but the public is going to support their entertainment and it won’t lead to a significant number of fans leaving. Vince McMahon being brought back even with the revelations that came out about him will lead to no decline in WWE business that wasn’t going to be there otherwise. In fact, if he were to show up at a television taping, it is almost a sure bet the crowd will go crazy for him.
The EPL is also far more woven into the U.K. sports fabric than pro wrestling is in the U.S. market. Plus, if soccer is an example, it would lead to far more money being spent on the product, and perhaps increase the pay disparity which could hurt New Japan a lot and perhaps AEW. In most cases when it comes to athletes, and understandably so, most will go where the most money takes them. Wrestling in recent years has also shown some major examples where that isn’t always the case.
Plus, Peacock has already willingly aired the Saudi Arabia shows even with the shows being financed by the government and the propaganda aspects of those shows. Some of that propaganda but not to nearly the same extent did bleed over to Raw and Smackdown. Saudi Arabia has put its hands in a lot of sports pies, and it always gets negative media publicity, but they’ve learned to ride it out, the lesson Vince McMahon now believes he should have taken, because it eventually goes away and money talks. So that is a precedent, although obviously airing a bought and paid for show and airing a company fully owned by that government are entirely different things. But WWE is a valuable 52 week a year property that delivers ratings that are more and more important to stations as time goes by and it becomes harder for non-sports programming to draw big audiences.
As far as Stephanie McMahon goes, last year she took a leave of absence from the company. While it was her decision, there were those in the company who did bury her on the way out and said she wasn’t good at her job as Chief Brand Officer. They also put out a story that she was forced out by Vince, although those close to her knew that wasn’t the case since she had talked about leaving for some time, dating back to shortly after Levesque suffered a near fatal heart issue and it was said that she was reevaluating her life.
But the belief when she left the first time was that she would come back, and when leaving, retained her position on the Board of Directors. While not her position name, but as far as the bulk of her work, her position was filled quickly and word was that if or when she would come back, it would be in a different role.
When Vince first ran into trouble from the original Wall Street Journal article, he pulled himself from running the company to only heading creative. He put Khan and Stephanie as co-CEOs, so Stephanie was back after five weeks.
On 12/27, when McMahon was formally suggesting a return to the company because he felt time was of the essence to make a sale, given so much uncertainty regarding the media future and an ability to get the kind of money they could get now. People have noted that the mergers and acquisitions markets have gotten weaker of late.
WWE’s hopes for a sale in the $8.5 billion range would be more than double of what UFC, which currently has higher profit margins, was sold to Endeavor for in 2016.
On 1/6, Khan, McMahon and Riddick spoke at a mandatory meeting with all employees. The wrestlers were not at this meeting.
At the meeting, Riddick said that the company was going to engage with a banker (JP Morgan) to prepare for a sale. He said the company could go private, and there was no guarantee a sale would take place. He said as the top stockholder, Vince ultimately will decide on the sale.
Nick Khan brought up Disney, Comcast and Netflix as companies that couldn’t be interested in buying the company outright. He noted that they couldn’t do a media rights deal with one media company and sell to another, so the sale has to be before they sign a new media contents deal. If the sale is to Saudi Arabia, anyone could buy media rights. If they sell to Netflix, then the shows would likely not air on FOX or USA. Once the media deal is signed, the company could only sell to perhaps Saudi Arabia or their media partner, and if they have split media deals like now, it would make a sale more difficult. That’s why the sale has to be done before the media rights negotiations get serious. Khan also never brought up Saudi Arabia as a potential suitor.
Khan said that in terms of day-to-day business, nothing is changing, that he, Stephanie, Riddick, Levesque end Kevin Dunn would all remain in the same roles. Stephanie said that George Barrios and Michelle Wilson, the former co-Presidents who Vince had fired, were back on the board but would not be added to management.
It was positioned as a rah-rah speech, pushing how a sale would be a huge positive and it’s great to have Vince back in the limited role the employees were told he would have.
The general feeling is the mood and morale across the board picked up greatly when Vince McMahon left. While there was talent uncertainty about a creative department not headed by Vince McMahon, most fears were alleviated over the next few months and morale was higher than it had been in a long time.
On 1/5, when he got back power, Vince did a filing which included changes in bylaws giving him the power in writing to remove anyone from the Board at any time, either with or without cause, and the power to add new people.
Vince’s replacing Stephanie as Chairman of the Board was actually on 1/9, as was the unanimous vote with Stephanie off the board. Her letter of resignation from the company was taken officially the next day. Essentially she was removed from her position and then Vince was voted in unanimously.
Stephanie announced she was leaving, but unlike the first time, this was a complete break. It was not a leave of absence but a resignation. And she gave up her position on the Board of Directors.
“About 8 months ago, I took a leave of absence and within a few weeks, unexpectedly had the opportunity of a lifetime. I had the privilege to return as the Co-CEO and Chairwoman of the Board of WWE,” Stephanie McMahon wrote. “I cannot put into words how proud I am to have led what I consider to be the greatest company in the world, working alongside a remarkable leadership team, and one of the strongest executives I have known in my Co-CEO, Nick Khan.
“Our Founder, Vince McMahon, has returned as Executive Chair and is leading an exciting process regarding strategic alternatives. And with Nick’s leadership and Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque as Chief Content Officer, I am confident WWE is in the perfect place to continue to provide unparalleled creative content and drive maximum value for shareholders. WWE is in such a strong position, that I have decided to return to my leave and take it one step further with my official resignation.”
Vince McMahon then said, “ I’d like to express my full support for Stephanie’s personal decision. I’ll forever be grateful that she offered to step in during my absence and I’m truly proud of the job she did co-leading WWE. Stephanie has always been the ultimate ambassador for our company, and her decades of contributions have left an immeasurable impact on our brand. I’m proud to announce that Nick Khan will serve as WWE CEO. Nick’s business acumen and mastery of the media industry have helped catapult our business to record revenue and profitability. Together, we look forward to working with the Board at this critical moment in time to review our strategic alternatives and maximize value for all WWE shareholders.”
Her leaving after assuring employees she was staying and the company saying the same raises flags. Those close to the situation in WWE tried to present her decision to leave as being related to the decision last year, that after Levesque’s heart situation, she reevaluated her life, wanted to raise her three daughters and was wealthy enough that money will never be a concern. But she came back when Vince was in trouble. But that doesn’t explain why this was a resignation and she left the board and cut all ties with the company she has worked for since she was a teenager. It was also conceded that she and Vince did have issues in working together as family members and how Khan was a buffer who kept things smooth between them as well as between Vince and Levesque.
Axios reported that Stephanie McMahon and Levesque were both opposed to selling the company.
It is also the first time since 1982 that no member of the McMahon family other than Vince will be part of the company.
After Stephanie’s departure, the Board of Directors, which included Khan, Levesque, Steve Koonin, Michelle McKenna and Steve Pamon who were all unanimous in not wanting him back on 12/27, voted unanimously for his return as Chairman of the Board.
The current Board consists of the aforementioned names as well as Vince McMahon, Wilson and Barrios, who Vince added. Vince took JoEllen Lyons Dillon, Jeffrey R. Speed and Alan M. Wexler off the board. Ignace Lahoud and Man Jit Singh quit the board because they were adamant that Vince should not be brought back. Singh was in charge of the board’s investigation of Vince McMahon and Speed was a key player in that as well.
Shareholder Scott Fellows, represented by Labation Sucharow LLP, Friedlander & Gorris PA, Friedman Oster & Tejel PLLC and Kaskela Law LLC filed a class action lawsuit against Vince McMahon based on his takeover of the company.
The lawsuit, filed in Delaware’s Chancery Court, accused McMahon of using his voting control to oust three board members, replace them with loyalists and push through bylaw changes that would impose his will on the board and WWE. The suit claimed McMahon timed his return to seize control of upcoming negotiations over the company’s expiring media rights, the lifeblood of the business, and forced his way back by leveraging a threat to withhold support for any deal reached without his participation.
The suit claims that taking complete personal control over any major corporate decision by adding his cronies to the board violates Delaware law, suing based on breach of fiduciary duty.
Unless the stock price declines, and it won’t due to the excitement of the company being for sale, I don’t see this suit going anywhere.