Vince McMahon recently returned to the WWE Board of Directors alongside George Barrios and Michelle Wilson to help negotiate the new TV deals for Raw and SmackDown and explore a potential company sale.
After Stephanie McMahon announced her resignation from the company on Tuesday, social media went crazy with rumors about a potential WWE sale, with WWE agreeing in principle to sell to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio has provided his latest update on the status of a WWE sale and noted that the company hasn’t been sold.
Meltzer mentioned he had a “long conversation” with people in WWE last night and said:
“They’re not sold. Saudi Arabia is in the hunt. They’re one of the companies, one of the places that’s looking for it… several media companies, the names that are out there are all in the hunt.”
Meltzer added that Nick Khan was actually in Los Angeles, meeting with some “heavy hitters” at the college football championship game on Monday instead of being at Raw, including The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger and ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro.
“They’re looking to sell by the middle of the year. JP Morgan is helping them. Saudi would be the only ones as far as if they want to go private, that would be the one. The other ones are public companies. Endeavor is obviously also in the hunt. There’ll be a decision made at some point. There’s definitely smoke about the Saudi Arabia story., but it’s early. It’s too early for the deal to be finalized, but that one can happen too.”
Meltzer added that WWE is “absolutely” for sale, and they’re in preliminary talks.
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