Vince McMahon‘s WWE-UFC merger saga is heading toward a massive payday, but not the sort anybody involved probably wanted.
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The former WWE boss and his insurers have agreed to pay $42.5 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit contesting the 2023 merger that brought WWE and UFC under TKO Group Holdings. WWE itself is putting up an additional $105 million, bringing the total settlement to a stunning $147.5 million.
The full number came out in a court filing on Friday, after shareholders accused TKO of giving the public only a partial picture of the settlement. According to the shareholders, TKO’s earlier announcement made it seem like the company was paying $105 million, without clearly explaining that the full settlement was actually $147.5 million.
They argued that the incomplete information gave the public and media a misleading impression of what the deal and settlement really involved. The plaintiffs also claimed that Vince McMahon and other insiders structured the transaction in a way that benefited themselves, while turning down potentially better offers.
Vince McMahon had returned to WWE in 2023 and the shareholders therefore argued that the merger was partly intended to protect McMahon’s position and personal interests while WWE was dealing with the problems that arose as a result of the Janet Grant lawsuit in early 2024.
Ari Emanuel, the CEO of Endeavor at the time of the purchase and later CEO of TKO, was also involved in the deal, but he is not a defendant. And while both McMahon and Emanuel were due to testify in a June trial, the settlement means that’s now off the table.
There is one final hurdle, though: Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster must approve the settlement. The settlement is also being delayed because of a disagreement over who should pay certain legal costs. WWE described it as a “narrow disagreement,” while Vince McMahon’s side claimed there are no obstacles on his end.
For the time being, however, the trial has been avoided, even if at a cost of $147.5 million. It is also worth noting that the settlement brings an interesting parallel with another major legal battle involving the UFC.
The WWE lawsuit isn’t the only massive legal headache hanging over TKO
Former UFC fighters have spent years accusing the organization of adopting anti-competitive measures to preserve its supremacy in the MMA industry. In simple terms, they argue that the Dana White-led promotion used restrictive contracts, exclusive rights, and acquisitions of competing promotions to reduce competition and keep fighter pay lower.
The first UFC lawsuit eventually resulted in a $375 million settlement, after the judge rejected an earlier proposed $335 million offer as insufficient. However, luckily for the promotion, the settlement was finally approved in 2025, bringing that case to an end. But not all’s well for the biggest MMA promotion just yet, as a separate UFC antitrust case, Johnson v. Zuffa, is still ongoing.
And, similar to the WWE case, the possibility of a public trial created an uncomfortable situation for the promotion as well as TKO. A key concern in both cases has been what would happen if internal communications were investigated in court.
In the WWE litigation, Vince McMahon and WWE president Nick Khan were heavily sanctioned after the court found that they had deleted text messages that they were required to preserve as potential evidence, using Signal’s auto-delete feature.
Similarly, even the Dana White-led promotion faced its own allegations regarding the preservation of company papers. Plaintiffs in the ongoing Johnson v. Zuffa case have asked the court to punish the company for allegedly deleting evidence.
So while the underlying allegations are certainly different, the bigger picture is hard to miss.
Both lawsuits called into question the two promotions’ business practices. Now, at least on the WWE side, the courtroom battle is essentially over, assuming the judge approves the $147.5 million settlement.
