The value of WWE has decreased by slightly over $500 million since The Wall Street Journal first reported the charges of misconduct against Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis one week ago, although not all metrics have dropped.
Last Wednesday, when the Wall Street Journal story was published, WWE’s market value was $4.995 billion. The valuation fell to $4.823 billion the next day, then to $4.647 billion on Friday, when WWE announced that the Board of Directors was looking into what appears to be the biggest scandal in the history of the corporation. The week began at $4.537 billion at that point. At $4.485 billion right now, the value has decreased by $510 million or 10.21%.
In the last five trading days of the scandal, shares of WWE stock fell 7.29%. In contrast, shares increased 24.71% over the previous six months and decreased 2.22% over the previous month.
Interesting to note is that not every WWE metric is falling. Tony Maglio of IndieWire noted that McMahon’s appearances on the most recent episodes of RAW and SmackDown helped boost WWE TV ratings, but he failed to mention that there was no significant sporting event on network or cable TV this week. No matter how many fans trash the product on social media, there is still something to be said for the rise in TV ratings over the past week. The growth could be ascribed to Money In the Bank’s development and marketing, but it’s also possible that the scandal’s publicity and Vince McMahon’s public appearances have contributed. Maglio made the claim that McMahon’s supporters are supporting him because they adore him so much.
The promised McMahon segment at the start of Friday’s SmackDown attracted 2.290 million viewers and a key demo rating of 0.57. The key demo rating increased by 30.66% and the viewership increased by 19.64% from the previous week. SmackDown ranked first in the three key demographics and third overall for the evening in terms of network TV viewership. SmackDown attracted the highest overall audience and key demo rating since the post-WrestleMania show on April 8 and WrestleMania 38 go-home episode, respectively.
The unannounced McMahon segment that kicked off Monday’s RAW attracted 1.986 million viewers and a 0.54 key demo rating. The key demo rating increased by 25.58% and the viewership increased by 17.17% over the prior week. For the second week in a row, RAW had the highest cable rating of the night (0.54), and it had the eighth-highest cable viewership. The total audience for RAW this week was the greatest since the post-WrestleMania 38 episode on April 4, and the key demo rating was the best since April 11.
Even WWE NXT 2.0 was up this week, but unlike RAW and SmackDown, it is not connected to McMahon. In terms of viewership and key demo rating, NXT attracted 637,000 viewers and a 0.18, which is an increase of 4.08% and 50%, respectively. NXT received the highest key demo rating since the Halloween Havoc special on October 26, 2021, and placed better than usual at #7 for the evening on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.18 rating.
With a $2.2 billion net worth, McMahon placed 1397th on Forbes’ list of the world’s wealthiest people in 2022. This is up from a reported net worth of $2.1 billion and a ranking of #1517 in 2021, but down from a reported net worth of $1.7 billion and a ranking of #1196 in 2020. As of June 22, McMahon had a Real Time Net Worth of $2.2 billion and was ranked #1316 on Forbes. However, according to change since 5pm ET of the previous trading day, the Real Time Net Worth reports that the amount is down $18 million, or roughly 0.78%.
It is unclear how the issue will play out and whether or not it will have an influence on WWE’s long-term objectives. According to reports, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development for WWE, is reportedly returning to assist with management.
As we’ve already mentioned, the Board of Directors of WWE has been looking into Vince about a “hidden $3 million settlement” he paid to a former WWE paralegal recruited in 2019. This was made public last Wednesday. The involvement of Laurinaitis is also under investigation, and the Board is also looking into other incidents involving former female employees. Then, on Friday, it was revealed that Stephanie McMahon had returned from her leave of absence to serve as the interim CEO and interim chairwoman while Vince willingly stepped down from his chairman and CEO business obligations but continued his creative responsibilities. Then, on Monday of this week, it was made public that Bruce Prichard, Senior Vice President of WWE and Executive Producer of RAW and SmackDown, is now serving as Interim Senior Vice President of Talent Relations in place of Laurinaitis while the inquiry is ongoing.
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more.
