WWE Acquired by UFC Owner Endeavor to Form Fighting Heavyweight

Executives aim to use the tie-up of W.W.E. and U.F.C. to take advantage of that demand. U.F.C.’s contract with the Walt Disney Company’s ESPN division ends in the next few years, and W.W.E.’s deals with NBCUniversal’s U.S.A. network and the Fox broadcast network are set to expire next year.

The combination is the latest in a series of audacious deals struck by Mr. Emanuel, the workaholic Hollywood talent agent who rose from the mailroom to become one of the entertainment industry’s most important figures. Mr. Emanuel will be the chief executive of the new company and will keep his chief executive title at Endeavor, which will continue to own other businesses, including the William Morris Endeavor talent agency and the Professional Bull Riding league.

The deal also provides a coda to a tumultuous chapter in Mr. McMahon’s career. He was reinstated as executive chairman of W.W.E. in January after resigning from that position last year following an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. Mr. McMahon will stay on at the new company as executive chairman, part of an 11-person board that will include six members from Endeavor and five members from W.W.E.

The Wall Street Journal reported last June that Mr. McMahon agreed to pay a secret $3 million settlement to an employee with whom he was said to have had an affair, and that the board had been investigating since April last year. The investigation unearthed other nondisclosure agreements involving claims of misconduct by Mr. McMahon.

Mr. McMahon acknowledged the harassment claims in an interview on Monday from Endeavor’s Los Angeles offices, saying that he had erred over the last half-century.

“I’ve made mistakes in my 50-year career, both in business and personally, and I’ve always owned up to them,” he said.

Mr. Emanuel said that he believed in “due process,” adding that Mr. McMahon “takes full responsibility for what happened.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/03/business/endeavor-tko-wwe-ufc.html