The billionaire founder of WWE who resigned last week amid allegations of sexual abuse has been the subject of a federal sex trafficking probe since 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, as investigators look into several allegations of sexual misconduct by Vince McMahon—claims he has repeatedly denied over the years.
Federal prosecutors in New York have been in contact with those who’ve accused McMahon of sexual misconduct for months, the Journal reported citing “people familiar with the investigation,” as part of a probe that started almost two years ago and has included a grand jury subpoena and search warrant for his phone.
The subpoena also reportedly sought information from a number of people who’ve accused McMahon of misconduct ranging from sexual harassment to assault, sexual coercion and rape.
Federal prosecutors have not charged McMahon or formally accused him of a crime yet.McMahon has denied some of the claims, like rape allegations from former WWE referee Rita Chatterton, but has not addressed the allegations by the other women, according to the Journal.
McMahon, who resigned from his role as CEO of the WWE parent TKO Group last week amid a new lawsuit claiming he sexually abused and trafficked former WWE employee Janel Grant, told WSJ the federal probe will not find any wrongdoing.
Representatives for WWE and the TKO Group did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment Friday.
Grant, who said she was offered $3 million to keep her alleged relationship with McMahon quiet, filed a lawsuit in Connecticut last Thursday alleging he pushed her to have a sexual relationship with him and shared explicit photos of her with fellow employees and wrestlers. The lawsuit says he trafficked her to others within the organization and sexually assaulted her. McMahon has denied the claims, but resigned from his role as CEO of the TKO Group the next day. In the summer of 2022, WWE’s board investigated a series of hush-money payments made by McMahon to women who’d accused him of sexual misconduct, including a $7.5 million deal with a wrestler who said he coerced her into oral sex. The payments made by McMahon totaled at least $19.6 million. Around the same time, McMahon settled a lawsuit stemming from Chatterton’s 1990s rape allegation for an undisclosed amount. He admitted no wrongdoing by agreeing to the settlement and his lawyer at the time told the Wall Street Journal “he settled the case solely to avoid the cost of litigation.” McMahon briefly retired from WWE in July 2022 amid reports of the payments, but returned in early 2023 before arranging its sale to the Endeavor Group. The deal created the public TKO Group.
Vincent McMahon, who founded WWE before selling it to Endeavor Group at a $9.3 billion valuation last year, is the 1,119th richest person in the world as of Friday with an estimated net worth of $2.8 billion.
