Vince McMahon agrees to sell WWE to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund: Report

Wrestling promotion WWE is being linked with reports claiming that the publicly traded company has been sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. As per Steven Muehlhausen of DAZN, the promotion as been sold to the gulf country’s investment fund. This comes less than a week after Vince McMahon came out of retirement and returned as the executive chairman of the WWE board.

Steven also reported that the company will go back to being private for the first time since being listed as a public company in October 1999. He revealed the development on Wednesday in Twitter and said, “Sources: #WWE has been sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.  The company will go back to being private. Unknown if Vince McMahon will return to head of creative but it is expected by some people”.

Stephaine McMahon resigns from co-CEO position of WWE

It is pertinent to mention that earlier on Wednesday, Vince’s daughter Stephaine McMahon announced her resignation from the role of WWE’s co-CEO and chairwoman of the board. “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, am confident WWE is in the perfect place to continue to provide unparalleled creative content and drive maximum value for shareholders,” Stephaine’s announcement on Twitter read. 

She further added, “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”. Meanwhile, reports about Vince McMahon’s plans about selling the company started coming out as soon as the 77-year-old announced his decision to come back. In a statement, the former WWE boss revealed his role was essential ‘to maximize the value for all WWE shareholders’ as they took ‘strategic alternatives’ leading to the company’s sale. 

WWE's partnership with Saudi Arabia

WWE has been involved in a  partnership with Saudi Arabia since 2014 as it also organizes the annual PPV, ‘Crown Jewel’ in Riyadh every year. The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund made headlines in 2021 for buying Premier League club Newcastle United for a whopping $559 million (£460 million). Back in 2018, WWE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced a 10-year-long strategic partnership.