WWE has been sold to Endeavor Group, who will now merge it with UFC to form a new company valued at $21 billion. Endeavor will control 51% of the company while WWE stockholders will own 49%.
Speaking with CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Vince McMahon addressed the decision to sell WWE to Endeavor and whether or not he will be involved with the creative going forward.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On why WWE chose Endeavor: “This is the biggest thing Ari Emanuel and Vince McMahon have ever done. Combing forces like this, there’s nothing like this, there’s never been anything like this. They’re going to be talking about this for a long time. Sure there were (other suitors), but the synergies. Everyone was very interested in, and I appreciate that, but the synergy that Ari brings, totally different than everyone else.”
On why he decided to sell at all: “It’s the right time. It’s the right time to do the right thing. It’s been the next evolution of WWE. I could probably do what Ari does right now with UFC, it’d take me 10 years. In that time, he’ll be 10 years ahead of me. It makes all the sense in the world for all the synergies we have to extract all the value we can out of the marketplace.”
On how hard Ari Emanuel had to push to get him to stay: “Not that much. I love what I do. I love building WWE. All my life, it’s my passion. To have an opportunity to have it grow like this from an exponential standpoint. It can’t be better than that.”
On if he’ll be involved with creative: “Yes and no. On a higher level, yes. In the weeds, which I always loved to get in the weeds in the past, no. Can’t do that.”
Ari Emanuel on wanting McMahon to stay involved: “I would have bodyslammed him if he thought he thought he was going to leave. Here’s a man who has seen around the corner at every beat over the last 40 years of this business and has a vision of this business way before a lot of people see it. Him now being able to utilize what we’ve built in our flywheel, I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I have Vince McMahon, a visionary that sees around the corner, I have Dana White and what we’ve built. That’s pretty unstoppable. I wasn’t going to let him. We’ve had a relationship for 23 years. There’s a trust, a friendship. When you’re going into business and going forward, that’s important. I’m glad he chose us because it was a very competitive situation. For us, it’s an honor, and we’re so lucky because of his vision of where the business is and where it’s going.”
