WWE Stock Price Slides In Wake Of Probe

WWE’s share price slid 3% just 24 hours after an earth-shattering report of Vince McMahon’s investigation by the WWE Board of Directors.

After seeing a surge despite the news (and due to many other factors) yesterday, WWE shares opened at $66.19 before closing at $64.87 (adjusted). Yesterday’s share price closed at $67.18. WWE had a hot start Thursday morning, with highs of $67.73 that once again outperformed the indexes, before later sliding down a level similar to Dow Jones. As of this writing, WWE’s stock is down 3.44% compared to -2.42% for Dow Jones and -3.25% for the S&P 500.

WWE’s share price might be the least of its worries as Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics (h/t Wrestling Inc) reported 2.1 million shares of WWE stock were sold hours ahead of the WSJ report.

“2.1 million WWE shares changed hands yesterday, about 1.5 million more than an average day, all before the WSJ story broke just after the market closed,” wrote Thurston.

“It may be worthwhile to read the paragraph from the code of conduct headed, ‘Prohibition Against Insider Trading.’”

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Such a large volume of stocks being sold ahead of a potentially damning investigation suggests insider trading could be in play as details behind pro wrestling’s biggest story of the year continue to emerge. The section in question, from WWE’s own code of conduct, reads as follows:

WWE’s Prohibition Against Insider Trading

• “The term ‘insider trading’ refers to the practice of trading in securities while in possession of material non-public information, a practice which is prohibited under federal law.”
• “Any WWE Personnel trading while in possession of material information which he or she has reason to believe is not publicly available is acting contrary to Company policy and may be held liable for insider trading. Directly or indirectly ‘tipping’ this information to another person who trades is also a violation of this policy. Information will be deemed ‘material’ if it would be likely to influence a reasonable investor’s decision to buy, sell or hold securities. Any information about the advances, set-backs or over-all business plan of WWE or its business partners should be considered material.”
• “‘Non-public’ information includes any information that has not been made available to the public through a press release or a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. WWE Personnel with information about WWE or its business partners should consider the information “nonpublic” until the second full trading day following the wide-spread disclosure of that information.”

WWE did not respond to a request for comment. This article will be updated if and when it does.

It cannot be determined which shares were sold, however the possibility of insider trading adds yet another wrinkle to a complex, possibly cataclysmic, story that some feel could result in a possible sale of WWE. Whispers of a potential WWE sale have been prevalent since WWE hired Nick Khan in 2020.

“I’ve always thought Nick Khan’s role was to get the profit margin as big as possible to help facilitate an potential sale. I think many people felt that was it,” said Dave Meltzer of “Wrestling Observer Radio.”

“Ultimately, a sale has to be approved by Vince because he owns the voting shares. I don’t know how Vince would be ‘out’ out. He could be out of power, but he’s still got the voting share power…there’s been talk there for six years of Vince wanting to sell, just getting the right price, and nobody’s offered that right price.”

There is a short list of outcomes that would result in a) Vince McMahon being removed from power b) A potential sale of WWE or c) All of the above.

If WWE is found to have participated in insider trading, quid quo pro in regards to an inappropriate relationship and/0r if an ex-employee was, in fact, paid “hush money” from WWE funds, Vince McMahon’s potential downfall wouldn’t be too far behind.