WWE founder Vince McMahon to pay $1,700,000 over hush money payments-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Vince McMahon has been fined $400,000 and will pay a further $1.3million in reimbursements to WWE (Picture: Netflix/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)

Former WWE boss Vince McMahon has agreed a settlement worth around $1.7million regarding hush money payments.

United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission has settled charges against 79-year-old businessman after he failed to disclose two settlement agreements to the WWE board worth a total of $10.5m with two women in order for them to not reveal potential claims against him.

According to the SEC, McMahon – who remains under federal investigation regarding a lawsuit from former employee Janel Grant alleging sexual misconduct, which he has denied – has agreed to pay a $400,000 civil penalty over the funds.

The promotor – who has not admitted or denied the SEC’s findings – will also have to reimburse WWE for approximately $1.3m.

He said in a statement: ‘The case is closed. 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 wants to ‘put all this behind’ him (Picture: AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

‘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.’

A year ago, McMahon resigned from WWE’s parent company TKO following Grant’s lawsuit, almost two years after stepping down as WWE CEO amid an investigation into allegations matching those in the lawsuit.

According to the SEC, one agreement related to today’s settlement was signed in 2019, with another settled in 2022.

One agreement required him to pay a former employee $3m in exchange for her agreement not to disclose her relationship, while the other was worth $7.5m for a former independent contract’s agreement to not disclose allegations against McMahon.

McMahon has not admitted or denied the SEC’s findings related to the payments (Picture: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

By not disclosing these agreement to the WWE’s board – as well as the company’s accountants, legal department, auditor or financial reporting personnel – it circumvented its system of internal accounting, and affected its 2018 and 2021 financial statements.

Without admitting or denying the its findings, McMahon is said to have agreed to cease and desist from violating certain provisions, as well as paying the civil penalty and reimbursing WWE.

Since McMahon’s WWE departure, the company has launched a $5billion deal with Netflix, with their flagship Monday Night Raw show making its debut on the streaming platform earlier this week.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

Entertainment – MetroRead More