Yesterday saw a major shift in WWE’s corporate landscape, as the company’s former co-CEO Stephanie McMahon announced that she was stepping down from the role and leaving the company entirely, whilst former Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon was unanimously elected by the Board of Directors as the Executive Chairman of the Board. Just a few hours later, rumours began to emerge stating that McMahon had agreed a deal to sell the company to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, however, this rumour has now seemingly been denied.
Ariel Helwani has now provided an update on the rumours of WWE selling to Saudi Arabia, noting that no deal has been agreed upon as of yet, with the company still exploring their options at this time.
Contrary to reports stating otherwise last night, there is no deal in place at this precise moment for WWE to be sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund or any entity, sources say.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 11, 2023
The organization is still exploring all options, I’m told. Developing.
In a follow-up tweet, Helwani also highlighted that the original tweet reporting that the deal had been completed has now been removed, likely pointing towards the idea that the information was inaccurate, although multiple sources have since stated that a deal is progressing, but has yet to be officially signed.
Additionally, Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics has now also reported that the news of WWE being sold to Saudi Arabia’s PIF is untrue, citing Rich Greenfield of LightShed.
I concur with @RichLightShed. I asked someone at WWE, who would know, who said the story that took hold of Twitter last night, about WWE and Saudi Arabia being near a deal to take the company private, is untrue.
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) January 11, 2023
Jon Alba would also pitch in, saying he was told the news was “completely false”
Well, finally got something much more firm.
— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) January 11, 2023
A high-ranking #WWE source with knowledge of the situation tells me reports of a sale or agreement to sell at this moment are “completely false.”
Should WWE complete a sale to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the current expectation is that the company would likely return to private ownership, and thus the likelihood of Vince McMahon reinstating himself as the Head of Creative would increase as the issue of shareholders rejecting a potential return would no longer be an issue.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any updates on WWE’s current corporate changes and the possibility of a full sale as soon as we hear more.
