Vince McMahon has provided more liquidity to WWE to help the company cope as the coronavirus pandemic affects the business. He has also committed to running WWE for the foreseeable future.
WWE has already made other moves throughout the past couple of weeks in order to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus.
They’ve done everything from moving their Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and even WrestleMania 36 to the Performance Center in Orlando, to limiting the number of people who work on each show, to allowing their employees in their headquarters in Stamford to work from home.
They have also allowed superstars and talent who are uncomfortable with travelling to the Performance Center for shows to stay at home if they wish to do so without any repercussions.
Now, WWE has filed a Form 8-K with the SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission), which details how Vince McMahon has entered into a variable prepaid forward contract to pledge approximately 3.5 million shares of his Class B common stock, according to Seeking Alpha.
The variable prepaid forward contract will settle on specified dates in March 2024, and it provides current liquidity while allowing the WWE Chairman to maintain voting and ordinary dividend rights in the stock.
There are tax benefits for the seller, and McMahon has the option to buy out the contract and keep his shares between now and the transfer date.
The filing also states that Vince will continue in his role as the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for the foreseeable future. The full Form 8-K can be read here.
With so much uncertainty surrounding the world over the next couple of months, as well as given the current volatility of the stock market right now due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it makes sense for Vince to give WWE more protection in the form of liquid assets.
Also, it should come as no surprise that Vince wishes to remain as the Chairman and CEO of WWE for the foreseeable future, as many fans expect him to be in that position until he can no longer.
With these recent SEC filings, WWE continues to make financial moves to help the company deal with the coronavirus pandemic.