NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 31, 2023 / Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. ('WWE' or the 'Company') (NYSE:WWE). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether WWE and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

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On June 15, 2022, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled 'WWE Board Probes Secret $3 Million Hush Pact by CEO Vince McMahon, Sources Say' which revealed that '[t]he board of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. [] is investigating a secret $3 million settlement that longtime chief executive Vince McMahon agreed to pay to a departing employee with whom he allegedly had an affair, according to documents and people familiar with the board inquiry.' The article further revealed, among other things, that '[t]he board's investigation, which began in April, has unearthed other, older nondisclosure agreements involving claims by former female WWE employees of misconduct by Mr. McMahon and one of his top executives, John Laurinaitis, the head of talent relations at WWE, the people said.'

On this news, WWE's stock price fell $2.31 per share, or 3.4%, to close at $64.87 per share on June 16, 2022.

On July 22, 2022, Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE. Then, on July 25, 2022, WWE filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a current report on Form 8-K which announced, among other things, that '[t]he Company has made a preliminary determination that certain payments that Vince McMahon agreed to make during the period from 2006 through 2022 (including amounts paid and payable in the future), and that were not recorded in the WWE consolidated financial statements, should have been recorded as expenses in the quarters in which those agreements were made (the ‘Unrecorded Expenses')[,]' which '[a]s of the date hereof, the Company has identified Unrecorded Expenses totaling approximately $14.6 million.' The report further announced that 'the Company currently anticipates that it will revise its previously issued financial statements to record the Unrecorded Expenses in the applicable periods for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, as well as the first quarter of 2022[.]' Finally the report also announced that '[t]he Company has also received, and may receive in the future, regulatory, investigative and enforcement inquiries, subpoenas or demands arising from, related to, or in connection with these matters.'

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP