Vince McMahon, the chairman and co-founder of WWE, resigned following sexual assault allegations

McMahon and his wife co-founded the company that would become WWE in 1980

Driven by staged, story-like productions, WWE has become the world’s largest wrestling organization with billions of dollars in annual revenue

McMahon is credited with revolutionizing wrestling and bringing it into the mainstream

In 2022, McMahon resigned as WWE’s CEO after an internal investigation found that he had paid $14.6M over 16 years to women who accused him of sexual assault

Subsequent investigations revealed he had paid a further $5M to two additional women

McMahon remained WWE’s largest shareholder, though, and in 2023 made himself chairman of the board

He has since navigated WWE through its merger last year with UFC, forming a new publicly-traded company, TKO Group

He has also overseen TKO as it has negotiated a series of lucrative streaming deals

Last week, WWE signed a $5B, ten-year deal to give Netflix the rights to livestream “Raw,” WWE’s flagship program

On Thursday, though, a former WWE employee filed a lawsuit accusing McMahon, WWE, and one other executive of sexual assault

The woman claimed McMahon made her “career-making and life-changing promises” in exchange for a sexual relationship

She claims he also circulated nude photos of her to other employees and trafficked her to at least one other, who she claims assaulted her

She eventually signed a $3M NDA, but McMahon stopped paying, prompting the new lawsuit

On Friday, WWE’s president said in a memo to staff that McMahon had “tendered his resignation from his positions as TKO Executive Chairman and on the TKO Board of Directors”

“[McMahon] will no longer have a role with TKO Group holdings or WWE,” he added

In a statement, McMahon, 78, said, “I stand by my prior statement that [the new] lawsuit is replete with lies [and] obscene made-up instances that never occurred”

“However, out of respect for the WWE Universe…I have decided to resign from my executive chairmanship and the TKO board of directors, effective immediately,” he added

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