What we know about the Justice Department's sex trafficking investigation into Vince McMahon

Lina PortmanJune 1, 2024

0 2 minutes read

Top line

A trial against WWE founder Vince McMahon accusing the billionaire of sex trafficking has reportedly been suspended following a Justice Department request, marking the latest development in the department's investigation into McMahon and the allegations of sexual assault and sex trafficking against him.

McMahon has denied the allegations against him. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Highlights

Janel Grant, the former WWE employee who filed the complaint against McMahon, has agreed to stay the case for six months pending the federal investigation, her attorney said in a statement to multiple media outlets Friday.

The Justice Department has not publicly commented on details of the investigation, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The investigation began in 2022, when the WWE Board of Directors investigated secret money payments McMahon made to women who accused him of sexual assault, and involved prosecutors contacting accusers of McMahon, according to the Journal.

McMahon received a federal search warrant and grand jury subpoena last July, according to a regulatory filing, which said WWE also received requests for relevant documents.

Federal agents searched McMahon's phone while the subpoena issued to him requested documents related to allegations of “rape, sex trafficking, sexual assault, commercial sexual transaction, harassment or discrimination,” the Newspaper.

Grant and other women, including a former wrestler, referee and WWE employee, were named in the subpoena.

McMahon has not been formally charged or charged with a crime by federal prosecutors and has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.

Grant's attorney and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to Forbes' request for comment.

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What we don't know

The timeline for the investigation is still unknown, as the Justice Department has not yet provided an update on its findings.

Forbes Rating

We estimate McMahon's net worth at $2.9 billion as of Friday, an increase of $200 million from his net worth last year.

Tangent

McMahon informed the Securities and Exchange Commission in March that he would sell more than five million shares of TKO stock worth $412 million. Following the sale, the WWE founder will own approximately 15 million shares of TKO, the parent company of WWE and UFC.

Key context

McMahon, who sold WWE to Endeavor Group in a $21 billion merger last year, no longer serves as executive chairman of the combined company. He resigned from his position after Grant sued him, accusing him of sexual abuse and sex trafficking. The billionaire also resigned from his executive position within WWE in 2022 after being accused of secretly paying money to Grant to cover up an alleged affair. He later rejoined the company after it investigated the payments and removed three board members in the process. Grant's sexual abuse and sex trafficking lawsuit against McMahon is one of multiple allegations of misconduct leveled against him since the 1990s, all of which he has denied.

Top line

Highlights

What we don't know

Forbes Rating

Tangent

Key context

Further reading

Lina Portman

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