WWE Sold For $10 Billion To Warner Bros. Discovery, Shad and Tony Khan

WWE has been sold for a whopping $10 billion in a joint partnership by Warner Bros. Discovery Networks and father and son duo Shahid and Tony Khan.

Tony is the current President of All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor while his father Shad is the owner of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars and Premier League football club Fulham.

Later today, WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon and CEO Nick Khan are expected to make the announcement to talent and staff backstage at WrestleMania inside the SoFi Stadium. All talent and personnel have been asked to make their way to the arena much earlier than in previous years for the historic announcement. Tony Khan is reportedly also being flown in to have high-level meetings with WWE seniors ahead of his appointment as the new WWE President. Shad Khan is not believed to be attending.

It is being reported that McMahon will be departing the company following WrestleMania, something he has been open to throughout negotiations. McMahon closed the final sale at $10 billion, a billion more than he had originally wanted. Tony Khan is set to become President in a few weeks with a soft transition of power agreed upon which will be overseen by CEO Nick Khan in the interim.

Tony and Shad reportedly contributed a further billion on the agreement that McMahon would be required to step down and have no involvement with the company going forward, their request not one of disrespect but rather to give WWE a clean break to move forward into a new era. The father and son duo reportedly has plans to honor McMahon next year for the 40th anniversary of WrestleMania in Philadelphia and have agreed to induct him into the 2024 Hall of Fame as a sole inductee, which will officially end his decades-long career at the helm of WWE and the pro wrestling industry.

The deal is reported to be a 60/40 split in investment with Shad and Tony being the principal investors, while Warner Bros. bolstered the purchase to bring WWE under their banner and support with media rights, a win-win for both sides.

In regard to where this leaves AEW it is unknown, although AEW recently announced Tony Khan will be making a "huge announcement" on Wednesday's upcoming Dynamite on TBS, which will likely see him officially announce becoming President and joint owner of WWE and no doubt address the future of the brand which is believed to be remaining a separate company like ROH, at least for now.

A top-level source in WWE revealed Warner Bros. Discovery, Shad and Tony Khan have been the leading contender to buy the brand for a number of weeks, and they kept their negations under wraps for the most part. It almost leaked or was speculated further when In the United Kingdom, it was recently announced WWE would be moving to TNT Sport, a rebrand of BT Sport. On that note, It is expected that all WWE programming will be moving to TNT in 2024 and WWE is in the final stages of negotiating the media rights. WWE is also expected to leave Peacock at the end of 2023.

Another source revealed that Khan is open to working with Triple H if he wishes to remain within creative, and feelers have been put out for Stephanie McMahon return to return in an executive role.

We expect more later today from WWE when talent and personnel are officially informed, although we have more leaked information regarding how the deal came together including comments from insider sources, click here for more.

The above was posted on April 1 and was our yearly April Fools. Please read the story below for legitimate news on a WWE sale:

⚡ WWE Looks Set To Be Sold to UFC Parent Company Endeavor Group

We reported on Saturday, WWE has been sold to Warner Bros. Discovery, Shad and Tony Khan, this however was an April Fool. Today however CNBC [...]

— Ben Jordan Kerin Apr 02, 2023 05:18PM