Who’s next in line to reign over the ring? McMahons yet to unveil succession plan for WWE By ALEXANDER SOULE
Vince McMahon may have had his locks shorn by The Donald, but at least he got paid for the indignity by The Bear.
The World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. chairman and his CEO wife, Linda, have begun accepting salaries once more, set at $850,000 and $500,000, respectively, for 2007.
The celebrity executives declined most compensation from Stamford-based WWE in 2006 and 2005.
The staged “Battle of the Billionaires” between Donald Trump and McMahon at Wrestlemania 23 on April 1 set a record gate for WWE, with 80,000 fans showing up to see Trump shave off McMahon’s coif.
In addition to Vince’s hair cut, the McMahons are taking a pay cut in fiscal 2004, the last full year they accepted pay, Vince McMahon received a $1.2 million salary and an equivalent bonus, and Linda McMahon received $750,000 in each compensation category.
Lowell Weicker Jr., the former Connecticut senator and governor once nicknamed “The Bear,” chairs the compensation committee of WWE’s board of directors.
Weicker and other WWE shareholders are getting a bargain under the McMahons, WWE’s stock is up 60 percent in the past 20 months to about $16 per share, valuing Vince McMahon’s holdings today at $750 million. While a publicly traded company, McMahon wields nearly total control of it.
In its most recent fiscal year ending April 30, 2006, WWE bounced back from a 2006 sales decline with a $47 million profit on $400 million in revenue. WWE is in the process of aligning its fiscal year with the calendar year, making past comparisons knotty.
Attendance at WWE events in North America increased 6 percent in fiscal 2006 to 1.7 million, or 5,000 per show, and 6.2 million people watched on pay-per-view, nearly 1 million more than the year before. Overall revenue from live events declined slightly, however, which the company blamed on a lower average ticket price.
WWE closed the year with 560 employees, excluding its “superstars” who are independent contractors. The company expects to pay $16 million this year for “talent” and employment contracts.
Vince and Linda McMahon have been compensated both for their performance running the company and in the ring, as have their children. The McMahons’ employment contracts run through October 2008, and are automatically extended in one-year increments, though the McMahons and WWE both hold opt-out clauses.
Even as McMahon continues to thrive in the limelight, mugging paroxysms of agony for the crowd at Wrestlemania 23 as Trump wielded the razor, he has yet to shed light on a succession plan for the company whether that might involve a sale to a media, sports or private equity company, or keeping the company in the family.
“Succession planning has been undertaken, and is an ongoing process,” said WWE spokesman Gary Davis, in an e-mailed statement. “However, WWE expects that Vince McMahon will be leading WWE for many years to come.”
Son Shane McMahon, 37, is one of five people to hold the title of executive vice president or unit president, not including Michael Sileck, a former Monster Worldwide executive who was elevated in February to chief operating officer. He received $470,000 during the transitional fiscal period between May and December last year.
The McMahons’ daughter Stephanie Levesque is also a WWE employee and received $350,000 in compensation between May and December. Like Shane a past WWE performer, she now does behind-the-scenes work including creative writing. Stephanie is married to Paul Levesque, one of WWE’s top draws who performs under the stage name Triple H.
“You have seen Michael Sileck come in at the (chief financial officer) level, and then get promoted to COO he is seen as a solid operating guy,” said Michael Kelman, an analyst who tracks WWE’s stock for Susquehanna International Group L.L.P. in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. “They have a lot of good managers below that level who run the day-to-day stuff, but this is a business owned by the McMahon family.”
