Even for someone who is familiar with beatings, Vince McMahon could not have been prepared for the drubbing that he had in store last week.
According to Forbes, McMahon, the chairman and CEO of WWE, lost $350 million in a span of 24 hours.
The loss was the result of a few factors, including lack of confidence in WWE’s new online streaming network and a somewhat lackluster new TV deal. The new online streaming network has only picked up 700,000 subscribers since launching, and WWE said it expects the network to lose between $45 million and $52 million this year.
The new TV deal, while still impressive, is far smaller than what some investors thought. WWE’s contract with NBCUniversal to keep its hit shows “Raw” and “Smackdown” is worth around $150 million annually, which is half or one third of what many initially thought it would earn.
Together, the weak performance of the online streaming network and Thursday night’s announcement of the new TV deal led WWE’s stock to drop $8.86 (from $20.13 to $11.27).
That resulted in a huge loss for McMahon, whose net worth peaked at $1.6 billion in March. Then, Forbes reported, “shares dropped 29% the week after WWE announced its new online streaming network had only 667,000 subscribers, taking a $325 million chunk out of McMahon’s fortune.”
The stock’s next big tumble Friday wiped out another $350 million — nearly a third of his value.
A lack of confidence in the product and falling shares have dropped his fortune to an estimated $750 million. Forbes
