Vince McMahon has stepped down as CEO of WWE.
The billionaire wrestling promoter's decision comes as the WWE's board of directors announced that it has launched an investigation into allegations that McMahon offered a $3 million non-disclosure agreement to a former female employee with whom he had an affair.
Extensive details of the alleged affair were reported on Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal, with the publication citing people close to the board as its source.
Now, WWE and its Board of Directors have jointly released a statement today which reads: "WWE (NYSE: WWE) and the Board of Directors today announced that a Special Committee of the Board is conducting an investigation into alleged misconduct by its Chairman and CEO Vincent McMahon and John Laurinaitis, head of talent relations, and that, effective immediately, McMahon has voluntarily stepped back from his responsibilities as CEO and Chairman of the Board until the conclusion of the investigation.
"McMahon will retain his role and responsibilities related to WWE’s creative content during this period and remains committed to cooperating with the review underway."
The statement added that Vince's daughter has been named as his temporary replacement.
"The Special Committee has appointed Stephanie McMahon to serve as interim CEO and interim Chairwoman," it read.
Vince McMahon has also released a statement regarding the board's investigation, which states: "I have pledged my complete cooperation to the investigation by the Special Committee, and I will do everything possible to support the investigation.
"I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are."
Per The WSJ's initial report, the $3 million NDA was signed back in January of this year. It is said to prevent the female employee - who was hired as a paralegal in 2019 - from disparaging McMahon or speaking about their alleged affair.
The WWE board was reportedly enlightened to the accusations after receiving a series of anonymous emails from a person claiming to be a friend of the 41-year-old former employee.
One email allegedly read: "My friend was so scared so she quit after Vince McMahon and lawyer Jerry paid her millions of dollars to shut up."
The New York Post reports that "Jerry" could refer to Jerry McDevitt, McMahon’s personal attorney.
Another email - reportedly sent to board members on March 30 - allegedly claimed that the former employee was hired with a $100,000 salary. This allegedly doubled after the relationship with McMahon started, per The WSJ.
As well as McMahon, the investigation has reportedly also uncovered older agreements in relation to claims of misconduct against WWE's head of talent relations John Laurinaitis.
Vince McMahon is currently married to Linda McMahon, who once served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration under President Donald Trump and who has also appeared alongside her family on WWE programming.
Last month, it was announced that Stephanie McMahon opted to take an indefinite "leave of absence" from the majority of her roles within the company, citing "family reasons" for her decision.
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