WWE Shareholders Lawsuit Plaintiffs Cite Expert Report In Seeking Up to $957 Million

Lawyers for the plantiffs in the WWE shareholder lawsuit are arguing that, based on an expert report, they are owed as much as $957 million. As previously reported, a group of shareholders filed suit against Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, George Barrios, and Michelle Wilson alleging that that WWE’s investigation into McMahon on sexual misconduct allegations was a “sham,” and that McMahon manipulated the sale process to Endeavor for his benefit.

According to POST Wrestling’s Brandon Thurston, attorneys for the shareholders cited an expert report in seeking monetary damages between $466 million and $957 million. That is in addition to interest accrued since the merger closed in 2023.

The report was written earlier in 2026 by a financial economist named James L. Canessa, who the plaintiffs retained. Should the plantiffs win any monetary damages, such award would be proportionally distributed to shareholders who held WWE stock during the relevant period that is to be determined still.

The report notes that WWE the deal that resulted in Endeavor buying WWE and merging it with TKO resulted in Endeavor owning 51% of TKO and WWE shareholders getting 49%. That left Endeavor with majority control and ownership of the combined company. The plantiffs argue that WWE was worth more and that its shareholders should ended up with 53% to 57% of TKO. They are trying to sue for the difference in what they would have received and cite as evidence a series of internal Endeavor presentations from the week before the deal was signed. One document from March 22nd, 2023 by Endeavor said that “if we wait until after the media rights deal has been renegotiated, this merger will move away from us as the relative ownership will no longer be in our favor.”

The expert report from the defendants’ team, to no surprise, disagrees and argues that Canessa’s report doesn’t account for synergies caused by cost savings such as staff layoffs and revenue streams that WWE and UFC together can unloick. That report notes that when the synergies are accounted for, the , the split for WWE may have been as low as 48.1%, which means shareholders would have received a somewhat more-than-fair deal.

The trial is scheduled to start on Monday.