It has been a big week for the WWE for good and bad reasons. The latest being the news that WWE has furloughed and laid off employees as well as a list of talent that are now left looking for work elsewhere.
First, Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment, the owners of the XFL, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The filing revealed that the WWE had an ownership interest in Alpha Entertainment which will likely spark some securities lawsuits from angry shareholders.
Second, the state of Florida allowed the WWE to return to live airings at its Performance Center after the Governor determined that the company was essential to the economy of the state. This, despite the fact that a WWE employee tested positive for COVID-19. A report by a local station notes that Linda McMahon, the wife of Vince and former cabinet member for the Trump Administration, runs a Republican SuperPac that will spend $18.5M in Tampa and Orlando.
— Stephanie Coueignoux (@StephanieCNews) April 14, 2020
On Wednesday, the WWE announced that employees would be furloughed and at least 20 performers were laid off.
Payout Perspective:
The WWE is sitting on cash reserves of $106.6 million as of the Fourth Quarter of 2019. Thus, it would seem that they would be able to keep most, if not all of their employees and performers even if it may have meant taking pay cuts. But the move today seems more of a business decision to satisfy shareholders of the earning potential of the company.
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