Vince McMahon is very pleased with the direction of WWE since he’s departure, but TKO Group COO Mark Shapiro says the disgraced former WWE Chairman and CEO is “out of the business entirely.” Shapiro spoke with CNBC to discuss this week’s TKO Group Q3 financial results, and revealed details of a recent meeting they had together.
Shapiro tells Alex Sherman that he had breakfast with McMahon a few weeks ago, and wanted to see how he’s doing. It had been a long time since he’d spoken with McMahon, and a lot has transpired since then.
“He couldn’t have been nicer,” Shapiro said of McMahon. “I mean, he was a total pro at breakfast, if you will. It’s a one-on-one get-together, but he’s out of the business entirely. He doesn’t make decisions. He’s not on the board. He doesn’t opine. We don’t consult him.
He’s got some litigation that he’s working through, and frankly, he wants the privacy and the time to work through it which is great, because in the meantime, we’re going to keep building TKO and WWE, and expanding the horizon, expanding the opportunities.”
McMahon remains a minority shareholder of TKO Group, but his position has been significantly reduced. When asked how McMahon feels about WWE’s direction, Shaprio replied, “Couldn’t have been more positive, but I wasn’t asking for his opinion.”
