Celebrity Spotlight

Entrepreneur

Vincent Kennedy McMahon

American

EntrepreneurProfession

AmericanNationality

About

Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( mək-MAN; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda, is co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Outside of professional… Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( mək-MAN; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda, is co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Outside of professional wrestling, McMahon has occasionally ventured into promoting other sports. His projects have included the World Bodybuilding Federation and the XFL football league. McMahon graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in business in 1968, and began his tenure in professional wrestling as a commentator for WWE (then called the World Wide Wrestling Federation or WWWF) for most of the 1970s. He bought the company from his father, Vincent J. McMahon, in 1982 and almost monopolized the industry, which previously operated as separate entities across the United States. This led to the development of the annual event WrestleMania, which became the world's most successful professional wrestling event. WWE then faced industry competition from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the 1990s before purchasing and absorbing WCW in 2001. WWE also purchased the assets of the defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2003. McMahon appeared on-screen for WWE from 1969 until 2022, initially as a personable play-by-play commentator. In 1997, he adopted the character of Mr. McMahon, portrayed as an irascible, villainous, swaggering tyrant who obsessed over maintaining control of his wrestling company and often growled the catchphrase "you're fired!" when dismissing an employee. Under the villainous Mr. McMahon gimmick, he competed in wrestling matches and became a one-time WWE Champion, a one-time ECW Champion, a Royal Rumble winner, and a multi-time pay-per-view headliner. Revelations of hush-money agreements McMahon paid over affairs with former WWE employees led to McMahon announcing his retirement from WWE in July 2022. However, he returned to WWE as executive chairman in January 2023, and oversaw the acquisition of WWE by Endeavor, who subsequently merged WWE and Zuffa, owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts promotion. McMahon briefly served as the executive chairman of the newly formed company, TKO Group Holdings (TKO). Subsequent allegations of sex trafficking and sexual assault led to his resignation in January 2024. After a federal investigation, McMahon settled charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission for over $1.7 million in January 2025 for undisclosed hush money payments while not admitting or denying the findings.

Connections

Career

WWEEmployer2003–2022

Awards

star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame

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