Stephanie McMahon has discussed her return to WWE duties as one of the new WWE Co-CEOs after deciding to take a leave of absence earlier in the year.
On July 22, the wrestling world was shaken up by the news of Vince McMahon’s retirement. The future of the company became unclear, especially since Vince was involved with many aspects of the company and most people wasn’t sure who would fill the roles he left behind.
Stephanie McMahon has stepped into a Co-CEO position, alongside Nick Khan, and is also influential on the business side of things. Stephanie McMahon took a leave of absence from WWE in order to spend more time with her family which was cut short by the return to the company in a CEO position. During the financial earnings call covering Q2 2022, Stephanie reveals that she is honoured to be back in the company and insists that she offered to come back due to her family and childhood roots in the business.
“I have worked in WWE since I’ve been about eight years old, modeling merchandise for our then-catalog, in any variety of capacities. My parents couldn’t afford a nanny when we were bringing up the business, so on weekends, I would sit in with our receptionist at headquarters. I’ve worked my entire life for this business, I love this business. I took a leave of absence, realizing that I needed a little bit of time with my family given the grueling schedule and nature. I got about three weeks, which is more than a lot of other folks get. I was not forced into returning as CEO and Chairman in the interim position. I offered. That was an opportunity for me to come back and be part of this company that I love and have the opportunity to lead this company. This business is something I believe in to my core. I believe in the impact we make on people’s lives, not only growing the business, which I believe we have so many opportunities to do as has been laid out by all of us, but because of the impact we make. We truly bring people together for generations from all over the world with all different backgrounds. We give them relief, entertainment, an opportunity to come together that is very rare, unusual, and special. Whatever we can do to continue to deliver on that promise is what we want to do.”
-Stephanie McMahon.
Stephanie insists that her father, Vince McMahon, still remains the controlling shareholder and is keen to maximise the rewards for all shareholders going forward.
“That being said, Vince McMahon, is still very much the controlling shareholder. He still has his eyes for what is best for our business in terms of maximizing return to our shareholders, of which he is the biggest shareholder. Nick, Paul, Frank, and I remain focused on delivering the maximum results to our shareholders. We will properly evaluate any opportunity that comes our way with that lens in mind,”
-Stephanie McMahon.
The business side of WWE is clearly still going strong with the company also boasting a great result in terms of ticket sales for WrestleMania 39 with over 90k tickets sold already.
H/T Fightful for the full transcription.
