A leaked voicemail shows Vince McMahon had privately committed to selling WWE to Ari Emanuel and Endeavor before he ever forced his way back onto the company’s board, and before any formal sale process began.
In the message, McMahon calls the Endeavor path “easier, faster” and says he is ready to move forward with the deal.
The recording, surfaced on YouTube (leaked voicemail), followed a December 2022 dinner at The Mark Hotel in New York. In the room that night were Vince McMahon, Ari Emanuel, Mark Shapiro, Nick Khan, Stephanie McMahon, Paul Levesque, and Linda McMahon. At the time, Nick Khan and Stephanie were WWE co-CEOs, while Triple H had taken over WWE creative.
According to testimony from Nick Khan, Stephanie McMahon tried to stop the entire thing before it started.
I remember Stephanie discouraging her dad from coming back as the CEO because we didn’t know what role he was going to come back in, and I remember her expressing that there was no need to sell the company if that’s what he was contemplating,” Khan said.
Vince McMahon’s Leaked Voicemail
That plea did not land. After the dinner, Vince McMahon left a voicemail for banker Jeff Sine of The Raine Group, and he sounded set on moving forward with Emanuel.
Very good meeting with Ari and company. And I think and probably the best thing to do is to go forward with the deal with Ari. It solves a lot of problems,” McMahon said.
He then framed Endeavor as the quickest route available.
Together, I think it’s a stronger situation than either one of us on our own. But I’m pretty sure that’s the way I want to go now. It’s easier, faster and all that kind of stuff,” McMahon said.
The timing is what makes the voicemail so pointed. McMahon had not yet formally returned to WWE when he recorded it. Weeks later, he forced his way back onto the board, Stephanie decided to resign, and WWE officially began the sale process that led to TKO Group Holdings.
The WWE-UFC merger was announced on April 3, 2023. Later on, the shareholders sued and claimed that the deal was rushed and tilted toward Endeavor.
Vince McMahon did secure a lifetime role as TKO Executive Chairman, but it did not last. It is noted that he resigned after Janel Grant filed her sex trafficking lawsuit against him and WWE in 2024.
The strained fallout from the McMahon family saga has been felt well beyond the boardroom, as Stephanie McMahon has previously spoken about how the Vince McMahon scandal affected her family. She was later announced as an inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2026, and has admitted she initially did not feel she deserved the honor.
The voicemail leaves little doubt about how the sale played out inside WWE. Stephanie McMahon tried to talk her father out of selling, and Vince walked away from that dinner ready to do the Endeavor deal anyway.