WWE’s Latest SEC Filing Includes Legally Foreboding Language
It may be a new day for the WWE, with Vince McMahon now retired in the wake of numerous scandals and Triple H now assuming the dual role of EVP of Talent Relations and head of WWE creative. But don't think the dust is anywhere near settled, as new information suggests not only more potential payouts from McMahon regarding other allegations, but perhaps legal ramifications for him and WWE.
On Monday morning, WWE released their latest SEC filing, which revealed that the company had made "a preliminary determination" that payments McMahon made from 2006 to 2022 were not recorded as expenses in the quarters they occurred in, thus making them "Unrecorded Expenses." As such, WWE announced they are revising previous financial statements to record these "Expenses" for the end of 2019, 2020, 2021 and Q1 of 2022, with the goal of issuing new statements by August 9.
WWE also revealed that the total of "Unrecorded Expenses" was around $14.6 million, and that McMahon had paid or would pay the amount personally. The $14.6 million, which WWE claims "was not material to any individual time period in which the Unrecorded Expenses arose," has been determined to be an aggregate amount, and WWE is continuing to evaluate "the impact on previously reported on previously reported financial statements."
It had been previously reported that McMahon had paid $12.5 million to keep quiet numerous potential scandals, with the individual payouts ranging from $7.5 million to $3 million to two $1 million payouts. If those payments are part of the $14.6 million, that would leave approximately $2.1 million unaccounted for. It's unknown if this will lead to more payouts related to McMahon being revealed going forward.
The WWE closed out this section of their filing with a brief statement that suggested that the actions of McMahon may lead to more controversy for the promotion in the days to come:
"The Company has also received, and may receive in the future, regulatory, investigative and enforcement inquiries, subpoenas or demands arising from, related to, or in connection with these matters."