Previously, it was announced that the UFC’s parent company, Endeavor, had acquired WWE. In addition to that, it was reported that the UFC and WWE would merge to form a new company, TKO Group Holdings. The merger was all set to take place on September 12, 2023.
However, now it seems that the merger has been completed and WWE and UFC have merged into TKO Group Holdings. The idea behind the merger is to make Dana White’s promotion and the Stamford-based promotion stronger together rather than separately. TKO will have more than 1 billion fans worldwide. The newly formed company also has a new website.
With a 51% ownership stake in the new firm, Endeavour will have a bit more control over it. On the other hand, current WWE shareholders will hold 49% of the new company.
WWE and UFC have officially merged to form TKO pic.twitter.com/UBBOVkO18b
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) September 12, 2023
CEO of TKO Group, who is also the CEO of Endeavor, Ari Emanuel stated that with the launch of TKO, UFC and WWE, two of the biggest names in the world of sports and entertainment, will begin a new chapter. He also added, “With UFC and WWE under one roof, we will provide unrivaled experiences for more than a billion passionate fans worldwide“.
Thus, the ownership breakdown has happened and the unification of the two giant companies has been completed. It is still unknown what adjustments will take place in the aforementioned promotions going forward.
Who will be on the board of directors of TKO group?
Everyone has been eagerly anticipating the union of the UFC and WWE for a very long time. But now that it’s official, everyone is excited to see what comes next after the merger. It should nevertheless be noted that the newly established TKO Group Holdings will have a board of directors made up of a total of 11 members.
The company’s executive chairman will be Vince McMahon. Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro will be seen in the role of CEO and COO of Endeavor respectively. Apart from that, Nick Khan would be the president of WWE.
TKO’s official hype video package for the launch of their company made up of WWE & UFC: pic.twitter.com/vyDiEJ4t1h
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) September 12, 2023
In addition, the other board of directors includes:
- Senior advisor at multinational law firm DLA Piper – Peter Bynoe
- Co-CEO of private-equity firm Silver Lake – Egon Durban
- CEO and board member of Opendoor Technologies – Carrie Wheeler
- CEO of the Atlanta Hawks – Steven Koonin
- Chief media officer and Executive chairperson of interactive-video company Eko – Nancy Tellem
- President of the New England Patriots and President of the Kraft Group – Jonathan Kraft
- CEO and President of Reach Resilience – Sonya Medina Williams
It is to be noted that in relation to the TKO deal, there are some WWE executives who will receive payment, highlighted as a “sale bonus”. These include Nick Khan, Triple H, Kevin Dunn, and Frank Riddick.
The NYSE welcomes TKO Group Holdings Inc. in celebration of its listing! 🔔 $TKO @TKOGrp | @ufc | @WWE | @Endeavor | @danawhite | @TripleH | @BiancaBelairWWE | @dc_mma pic.twitter.com/55SSVlQpdw
— NYSE 🏛 (@NYSE) September 12, 2023
These are the people who will be heading the TKO Group moving forward. It remains to be seen if everything will continue to be the same or if there will be changes introduced following this groundbreaking deal.
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