Parties reach agreement in princiciple in WWE shareholder lawsuit

The parties in the WWE shareholder lawsuit have reached an agreement in principle and the trial has been cancelled.

“At the parties’ request, the trial is cancelled,” said Court Administrator for the Delaware Court of Chancery Tamara Burton in a statement to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics  “The parties have advised the court that they will present the settlement for approval in due course.” The lawsuit from the shareholders had alleged that WWE’s sale process was not designed to seek maximum value for shareholders and that it was structured to lead to the sale to a company that would retain Vince McMahon.

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In the lawsuit, shareholders alleged that WWE’s sale process was not designed to seek maximum value for shareholders, but instead was structured to ensure Vince McMahon would end up in a favorable position once the new regime took control. Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Michelle Wilson, and George Barrios are also named in the lawsuit. McMahon, Nick Khan, Levesque, Mark Shapiro, Ari Emanuel, and others had been scheduled to testify at the trial.

The defenses hopes of winning the trial were dealt a major blow last week when Khan and Levesque were sanctioned due to what Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster deemed as destruction of evidence. The sanctions meant that the following facts would be presumed to be true at the trial and the defense would have to prove them to be false:

• McMahon’s decision-making regarding the merger was influenced by Emanuel’s promises that he would remain at WWE and have legal support for federal investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct
• McMahon had decided to pursue a deal with Endeavor before the WWE began a strategic review process
• Khan communicated with Emanuel in 2022 to facilitate the deal
• McMahon and Khan worked with their financial adviser to steer negotiations toward Endeavor and away from other potential bidders

Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster, the presiding judge in the case, posted the following according to a report from Brandon Thurston.

The parties have represented to the court that they have reached an agreement in principle on a settlement. At the parties’ request, the trial is cancelled. The parties have advised the court that they will present the settlement for approval in due course.

It is likely it will take several months for the final settlement figure to come out publicly according to the report.