Welcome to another edition of The Wrestling Post. In this post we look at WWE stock, the net worth of Vince McMahon and a move in programming for the WWE Network.
WWE Stock at all-time high
Despite the rocky start to its network launch, WWE stock is trading at an all-time high. The stock price went up as high as $27.43 on Wednesday and was at $27.10 in after-hours trading.
Payout Take: The buzz around the WWE Network and the anticipated media rights deal has investors seeing value in the company. There are some that have been displeased with the network due to the many glitches during the first week but the WWE has done a good job in quelling the uprising of negative reviews and for the most part the tech issues have been addressed. This spring will be the biggest in the company’s history as its rights fee deal will likely occur sometime in April and it will reveal the first set of subscriptions numbers for the network. Both will be key indicators for the stock in 2014.
Vince McMahon is a billionaire
Forbes.com came out with a list of “notable newcomers” of billionaires based on net worth for 2014. WWE CEO Vince McMahon made the list with a net worth of $1.2 billion. Forbes.com describes McMahon’s source of wealth as the WWE and states, “…transformed the World Wrestling Federation from a regional operation into an international phenomenon. WWE went public in 1999 and today its programs are broadcast in nearly 150 countries and more than 30 languages.” McMahon returns to the list as his net worth had dipped in 2012-2013.
Other newcomers to the billionaire club include Michael Kors, Drew Houston (Dropbox founder) and Brian Acton (WhatsApp founder who was turned down by Facebook for a job. Four years later Facebook paid him $3 billion for his company).
Payout Take: With the WWE’s stock at all-time highs, the hopes of the potential Network revenues and an anticipated rights fee deal this spring that should double (if not more), McMahon’s wealth will only go up in the near future.
Sounds like they are flourishing while the UFC is fading…
@SS: All hinges on their big gambles: Network and Rights Fees deals. Numbers don’t look good immediately, it may have to scramble.
They are now in the star creation business… not the brand building business.
This compromises their credibility to grow as a legitimate sport entity long-term.
FOX would be stupid to shell out huge money to re-up with Zuffa as well. It’s not like any other networks are dying to put this crap on their channel.
More bad news for the UFC…as they have most cross over fans with the wwe…lol
How is those “cross over fans” having more money for UFC PPV’s a bad thing for the UFC?