Is Nick Khan Involved In Investigation Into Vince McMahon Allegations?
Have you heard that Vince McMahon is stepping down temporarily from his position as WWE CEO and chairman? No? Well guess what; Vince McMahon is stepping down temporarily from his position as WWE CEO and chairman. And it all stems from a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday that revealed McMahon allegedly paid $3 million to keep quiet an affair he and John Laurinaitis had with a former WWE employee.
But while we all know by now that the independent investigation by New York-based law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP was reportedly initiated by WWE's Board of Directors, it's unclear the role that certain board members, such as Nick Khan, have played. In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter by Dave Meltzer, it's apparently very little.
According to Meltzer, 8 of 12 members of the WWE board initiated the independent investigation in April after the board received emails from a friend of the employee who had been involved with McMahon and Laurinaitis. As had been previously reported, McMahon himself, daughter Stephanie McMahon and son-in-law Paul Levesque (Triple H) recused themselves as part of the investigation.
As for Khan, Meltzer stated that it was believed that the fourth member to recuse themselves from the investigation was Nick Khan; however, he did not 100% confirm that to be the case. The other members of the board include Steve Koonin, Ignace Lahoud, Erika Nardini, Steve Pamon, Connor Schell, Jeffrey Speed, and Alan Wexler, all businessmen and women with ties largely situated outside of WWE, unlike Khan and the McMahons.
Khan joined WWE as the promotion's President and CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in August of 2020. He was officially nominated and later elected to WWE's Board of Directors in June of 2021, along with several other board members listed above. It should be noted that the WWE Board of Directors and other officers are under investigation for fiduciary duties breach.
As noted earlier today, Stephanie McMahon will be temporarily replacing her father in the role of WWE CEO, which is seen by some sources as an "optics play" on WWE's part. Whatever the case, Vince McMahon will still appear on "WWE Friday Night SmackDown" tonight, and will reportedly be addressing his temporary absence in character as Mr. McMahon.