Employees of WWE are now restricted from trading company stock.
According to a recent Wrestlenomics report, all WWE employees were told not to buy or sell company shares until further notice shortly after Vince McMahon’s WWE retirement announcement last Friday afternoon. Additionally, PWInsider has learned that no employees are now permitted to buy or sell WWE stock.
WWE’s Senior Vice President & Assistant General Counsel James Langham wrote the notice, which was sent to the whole team.
“Please be advised that, in light of recent developments, the Company’s trading window has closed effective immediately for all employees,” Langham wrote. “Until further notice you are prohibited from any purchases or sales of Company securities. You are also instructed not to speak with others about this note.”
Stock units are frequently given to WWE employees as part of their compensation.
According to the report, “Designated Persons” (executive officers, board members, and employees with the titles of Executive Vice President and above) are prohibited from trading company shares between the last day of any calendar quarter (for example, June 30) and two trading days after the date on which the following earnings report is scheduled. This restriction is stated in the Insider Trading Policy published on the WWE Corporate website.
WWE stated in a recent SEC filing that they expect to release its next quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, August 9, but they said, “there is no assurance that [the company] will be able to meet this deadline.”
WWE’s intended date is a few days later than the anticipated date, as Wrestlenomics indicated that their expected earnings report date was Tuesday, August 4. The requirement to reprint financial reports for prior years as a result of Vince’s recently disclosed NDA payments has caused a delay in and uncertainty about when WWE will publish Q3 earnings. WWE recently revealed that Vince is personally repaying the company for the payments that should have been listed as business costs.
Employees who are not in possession of material non-public information may still be subject to “Blackout” Periods, which prohibit them from making stock transactions, according to WWE’s published Insider Trading Policy. Employees “shall not disclose the existence of the ‘Blackout’ to any other person,” the policy further states. This condition is not specific to WWE.
There is currently no information available regarding the logic for the WWE workers’ ban on stock trades or whether any employees may be considered to now be in possession of material non-public information, whatever that may be.
All staff received the message from Langham last Friday, but as of this afternoon (Thursday), no one is aware of any updates. As of today, it looks like all employees are still subject to the “Blackout” Period (Thursday).
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more.
