WWE Shareholder Lawsuit Ends in Settlement

The WWE and its shareholders have reportedly reached a settlement in their lawsuit.

“Burton this afternoon tells me the parties have reached an agreement in principle. ‘At the parties’ request, the trial is cancelled. The parties have advised the court that they will present the settlement for approval in due course,'” wrote Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, who has been spearheading coverage of the story since it began.

Tamara Burton is the Court Administrator for the Delaware Court of Chancery.

The trial was scheduled to begin on June 8th but has since been cancelled.

WWE shareholders launched the lawsuit alleging Vince McMahon and certain WWE executives breached their fiduciary duties as the deal they were seeking benefited McMahon but not the shareholders.

They claim that the sale was constructed in such a manner to favor Endeavor Group Holdings, the eventual purchaser. The shareholders believed their shares should have been worth far more.

The report of a settlement comes soon after the court decided to sanction Vince McMahon, WWE President Nick Khan and others for failing to preserve Signal evidence, messages that were vital evidence in the case. When a company or executive knows they may be involved in litigation, they have a legal duty to preserve potentially relevant evidence such as emails, text messages, documents, chats and other digital records.

Because the evidence was not maintained in the case the Court decided that the following things would be declared as true going forward in the trial:

McMahon’s decision-making was influenced by Ari Emanuel’s promise that McMahon would continue to have a role after the merger.
McMahon and Khan worked to steer WWE toward a deal with Endeavor.
McMahon pursued Endeavor before WWE’s formal strategic review process was underway.

It is unknown what settlement has been agreed upon.