Back in February, news broke that the UFC approved a $300 million dividend to pay out its early investors. Endeavor received half of the $300 million while celebrities investing in the companies received dividends.
One of the investors was Kobe Bryant. Tragically, Bryant died in a helicopter crash late January. Others included Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Gisele Bundchen, Ben Affleck and tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams. The New York Post reported that Wahlberg received $500,000 while the wife of Tom Brady received $145,000. Dana White and Ari Emmanuel received $3 million from the dividend.
With a heavy debt load, albeit structured, the cashing out of its early stage investors is not common. But if you were to think about this in terms of how they raised the money, it would seem that concessions were made for investing in the UFC, that they would be the first to cash out. So even if there is a high debt load from the company, it would issue a dividend to its investors instead of addressing the debt capacity and/or distributing to its contracted athletes. White stated to TMZ Sports that 2019 was the best year for the UFC so the payout is high for investors.
No one knew what was going to happen next with the pandemic and shutting down of events. As we now know, the UFC persevered, did well financially, did not lay off any workers and announced the severing of at least 60 fighters by December. For its performance, Dana White created a video where he mocked those that doubted him as a way to pat himself on the back.
One might assume that even if the pandemic occurred, the dividend would have been issued. It had a great 2019 and even with the down 2020, it likely will save face with the termination of its independent contractors.
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