Vince McMahon has ‘voluntarily stepped back’ from his responsibilities as CEO and Chairman of the Board in WWE.
The 76-year-old is subject of an investigation into alleged misconduct by himself and John Laurinaitis, head of talent relations, in relation to a Wall Street Journal report that claims he paid an ex-employee millions of dollars to stay quiet about an affair.
The Special Committee has appointed his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, to serve as interim CEO and interim Chairwoman.
McMahon, however, will retain his role and responsibilities with WWE’s creative content during this period, meaning WWE TV will largely remain the same.
A statement from the WWE read: “WWE and the Board of Directors today announced that a Special Committee of the Board is conducting an investigation into alleged misconduct by its Chairman and CEO Vincent McMahon and John Laurinaitis, head of talent relations, and that, effective immediately, McMahon has voluntarily stepped back from his responsibilities as CEO and Chairman of the Board until the conclusion of the investigation.
“McMahon will retain his role and responsibilities related to WWE’s creative content during this period and remains committed to cooperating with the review underway.”
And the boss said he will cooperate fully with the investigation and ‘will do everything possible to support the investigation.’
“I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are,” he said.
Stephanie, who only went on an absence of leave from WWE two weeks ago, said: “I love this company and am committed to working with the Independent Directors to strengthen our culture and our Company; it is extremely important to me that we have a safe and collaborative workplace.
“I have committed to doing everything in my power to help the Special Committee complete its work, including marshalling the cooperation of the entire company to assist in the completion of the investigation and to implement its findings.”
The statement also detailed how the committee takes misconduct allegations very seriously and there will be independent legal counsel involved to help with this investigation.
“The Independent Directors of the Board engaged independent legal counsel to assist them with an independent review.
“In addition, the Special Committee and WWE will work with an independent third-party to conduct a comprehensive review of the company’s compliance program, HR function and overall culture.”
McMahon, who according to Forbes has a net worth of $2.4bn, bought the WWF, formerly known as the WWWF, from his father, Vince McMahon Snr, in 1982 and has been in power ever since.
He has been married to Linda since 1966 and have two children, Shane as well as Stephanie, who is married to wrestling legend Triple H.
It was believed his son-in-law, who retired from competing earlier this year, was being groomed to be McMahon’s successor, but a recent heart problem saw him take a step back from the company. He is now back working in WWE.
Triple H currently serves as the executive vice president for Global Talent Strategy & Development of WWE and is also executive producer of the NXT brand.
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