The story
Founded by Ari Emanuel and Vince McMahon on Sep 12, 2023.1
Background
WWE was founded in 1953 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), a Northeastern territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The CWC was run by Vincent J. McMahon, son of boxing and wrestling promoter Jess McMahon. Following a booking dispute over CWC wrestler Buddy Rogers and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the CWC left the NWA and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in January 1963, and by April 25, 1963, Rogers was declared the first WWWF World Heavyweight Champion. The WWWF was renamed to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979; the WWF made its final departure from the NWA in 1983. The legal entity, which was originally named Titan Sports, Inc., was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts; it was reincorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law in 1987. Titan Sports was co-founded by Vincent K. McMahon, Vincent J.'s son, and his wife Linda. It acquired Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd., the holding company for the WWF, in 1982. After buying the WWF, Vince McMahon expanded the promotion by overturning the NWA's territory system and holding events around the United States and the world which were televised on a global basis. As part of the 1980s professional wrestling boom, the WWF began to capitalize on the popularity of rising star Hulk Hogan after he defeated The Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden on January 23, 1984 to capture the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. On March 31, 1985, the WWF held WrestleMania I, the first edition of WrestleMania, which went on to become WWF's flagship event. Initially broadcast on closed-circuit television, WrestleMania became a pay-per-view the following year, as the WWF expanded its pay-per-view offerings and became known as a pioneer for the relatively new distribution format.
In January 1993, the WWF introduced Monday Night Raw as its live weekly episodic television show. The WWF became a publicly traded company in August 1999, launching an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The company's status as the world's premier professional wrestling organization was cemented by its acquisition of the assets of World Championship Wrestling in 2001 following the Monday Night War. Titan Sports was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in 1999, and then World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. in 2002 after a legal dispute with the World Wildlife Fund. Since 2011, the company has branded itself solely with the initials WWE, though the legal name did not change at the time.
WWE's majority owner was its executive chairman, third-generation wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, who retained a 38.6% ownership of the company's outstanding stock and 81.1% of the voting power before the merger. The closure of the merger saw McMahon's voting power and stock ownership dramatically decrease after selling the majority of his stocks. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), initially under the ownership of the Semaphore Entertainment Group, was founded by American businessman Art Davie and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie with their partners in WOW Promotions. UFC 1 was held in November 12, 1993, at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver. The purpose of the early ultimate fighting competitions was to identify the most effective martial art in a contest with minimal rules and no weight classes between competitors of different fighting disciplines. In subsequent events, more rigorous rules were created and fighters began adopting effective techniques from more than one discipline, which indirectly helped create a separate style of fighting known as present-day mixed martial arts (MMA). In April 1995, after UFC 5, Davie and Gracie sold their remaining interest in the UFC to the Semaphore Entertainment Group and disbanded WOW Promotions.
In 2001, Zuffa, a sports promotion company headed by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, purchased the UFC from the Semaphore Entertainment Group. Zuffa's ownership led to a growth period for the company and the sport of MMA in general; the UFC's global leadership in the sport led to Zuffa buying the assets of the Pride Fighting Championships in 2007 and the Strikeforce promotion in 2011 (among other MMA promotions). In July 2016, Zuffa was sold to a group led by Endeavor, then known as William Morris Endeavor (WME–IMG), including Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and MSD Capital, for US$4.025 billion. In 2017, WME–IMG changed its holding name to Endeavor. In 2021, Endeavor bought out Zuffa's other owners at a valuation of $1.7 billion.
History
WWE's preparations for a sale
On June 17, 2022, amid allegations of misconduct, Vince McMahon stepped down as the chairman and CEO of WWE, leaving the company to his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, and Nick Khan. In January 2023, Vince said he planned to return to WWE ahead of media rights negotiations. WWE's media rights with Fox and USA Network were set to expire in 2024. Also in January 2023, J.P. Morgan & Co. was hired to handle a possible sale of the company, with rumored suitors including Comcast and Fox Corporation (owners of WWE's broadcast partners USA Network and Fox), The Walt Disney Company (owners of ESPN), Warner Bros. Discovery (media partners of All Elite Wrestling), Netflix, Amazon, Endeavor (WWE had an existing business relationship with its subsidiary Endeavor Streaming, which took over the technical operations of its streaming service WWE Network in 2019), Liberty Media, Creative Artists Agency, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (WWE has a long-term agreement with Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Sport to promote events in the country). On January 10, 2023, Stephanie McMahon resigned as WWE's chairwoman and co-CEO, after which Vince McMahon assumed the role of executive chairman of WWE while Nick Khan became the sole CEO.
Formation
In September 2023, Endeavor Group Holdings, UFC, and WWE formed a new publicly traded company, TKO Group Holdings, Inc. The new entity went public on September 12, 2023 and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol "TKO". At the close of the deal, Endeavor held a 51% stake in TKO Group Holdings, with WWE's shareholders having a 49% stake, valuing WWE at $9.3 billion. This marked the first time that WWE had not been majority-controlled by members of the McMahon family. Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel became CEO of TKO and Mark Shapiro became president and chief operating officer, with each maintaining their respective roles at Endeavor. UFC and WWE continued to operate as separate divisions under TKO, with Dana White as CEO of the UFC and Nick Khan serving as president of WWE post-merger. WWE's head of creative Paul Levesque remained in his role.
When the merger was first announced in April 2023, Emanuel stated that it would "bring together two leading pureplay sports and entertainment companies" and provide "significant operating synergies". McMahon stated that "family businesses have to evolve for all the right reasons", and that "given the incredible work that Ari and Endeavor have done to grow the UFC brand — nearly doubling its revenue over the past seven years — and the immense success we've already had in partnering with their team on a number of ventures, I believe that this is without a doubt the best outcome for our shareholders and other stakeholders." The merger closed on September 12, 2023; with Vince McMahon personally owning approximately one-third of the Class A Common Stock of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. The first television show produced under the TKO banner was the September 12 episode of WWE NXT. Following the merger, Dana White was made CEO of UFC.
In January 2024, a lawsuit was filed by Janel Grant, a former employee at WWE headquarters between 2019 and 2022 against WWE as well as TKO (by proxy of ownership). Grant alleged that the then current TKO Executive Chairman Vince McMahon, had coerced her into a sexual relationship, and, along with WWE executive John Laurinaitis and a WWE wrestler who was also a former UFC fighter, sexually trafficked her and repeatedly sexually assaulted her between 2020–2021. Grant alleged that she was subjected to "extreme cruelty and degradation" by McMahon, including being defecated upon during a sexual encounter. Grant stated that McMahon had agreed to pay her $3 million in 2022 in return for a NDA but stopped paying after only $1 million had been paid following the initial public emergence of the sexual misconduct allegations the same year. Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed McMahon, and have taken up the filing in question. On January 26, 2024, one day after the report, Vince McMahon resigned from TKO. In a statement, McMahon said the decision was made "out of respect for the WWE Universe, the extraordinary TKO business and its board members and shareholders, partners and constituents, and all of the employees".
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Further investments and acquisitions
In July 2024, TKO Group announced an investment in EverPass Media, an NFL-backed distributor of streaming pay television content to commercial establishments. Shapiro joined the company's board of directors. On October 23, 2024, it was announced that TKO Group would acquire several businesses from Endeavor, including sports and event management firm IMG (aside from "businesses associated with the IMG brand in licensing, models, and tennis representation, nor IMG's full events portfolio"), On Location (a luxury hospitality agency focused on major sporting events), and Professional Bull Riders (PBR), for $3.25 billion in an all-stock deal that closed in 2025. Shapiro stated that Silver Lake Partners had requested the divestment of certain Endeavor assets as part of its planned buyout of the company, and that Endeavor had approached TKO Group with an offer. He explained that TKO was interested in league ownership and "businesses that can power our current sports ecosystem", while the company stated that it would "[expand] TKO's operational footprint in the fast-growing premium sports market and enables direct participation in the upside from partner leagues and events." Under the terms of the deal, Endeavor will own 59% of TKO and the remaining shareholders will control the other 41%. The sale was officially completed on February 28, 2025. To promote the acquisition, TKO staged a series of consecutive PBR, UFC, and WWE events billed as "TKO Takeover" on April 24, 26, and 28, at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, consisting of a PBR team knockout event, a UFC on ESPN card, and WWE Raw respectively.
On March 5, 2025, TKO announced a partnership with Turki Al-Sheikh, the chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, and Saudi entertainment conglomerate Sela to launch a new boxing promotion in 2026. On April 19, 2025, it was announced that via WWE, TKO would acquire the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide in a joint venture with Fillip, a Mexican sports and entertainment company. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025, with TKO holding a 51% controlling stake. On June 6, 2025, TKO announced the creation of UFC Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (UFC BJJ), a sister company to the UFC based on submission grappling. UFC BJJ was described by the UFC as "the world’s new premier Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu live event series". On June 23, 2025, Ring Magazine officially announced that TKO's boxing promotion (earlier announced in March 2025 in partnership with Turki Al-Sheikh and Sela) will be known as Zuffa Boxing. Zuffa Boxing's inaugural event, Álvarez vs. Crawford: Once In A Lifetime, took place on September 13, 2025 at the Allegiant Stadium. On September 29, 2025, it was announced that Zuffa Boxing had signed a media rights agreement with Paramount Skydance for their events to air on the Paramount+ streaming platform; the promotion will air 12 events yearly on the streaming platform with the potential of simulcasts on CBS.
From Wikipedia’s article on TKO Group Holdings, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7