McMahon, WWE Leaders Sanctioned for Deleting Signal Messages (1)

Vince McMahon and WWE senior leaders “acted recklessly” in allowing Signal messages pertaining to the wrestling empire’s merger with UFC to be deleted, a Delaware judge ruled Wednesday.

Sanctions issued by the Delaware Chancery Court will make it harder for the World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. co-founder and its directors and officers to defend themselves in an upcoming trial against claims that McMahon manipulated the merger process to secure control of the company, rejecting higher offers in favor of a deal with a longtime friend, Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. CEO Ari Emanuel. The case is set to go to trial on June 8.

“The court will presume the truth of a limited number of facts relating to the conduct and motivations of two defendants: the controlling stockholder and the senior officer who openly encouraged Signal use,” Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster said in a 40-page opinion, referring to McMahon and WWE President Nick Khan. Elevating the standard of proof for overcoming the presumed facts “levels the playing field by forcing the defendants to make a convincing case for their position,” Laster said.

Shareholders challenged the fairness of the $21.4 billion merger with mixed martial arts giant Ultimate Fighting Championship. The 2023 merger followed McMahon’s return to the WWE in the wake of allegations that McMahon sexually harassed and abused female subordinates for decades.

McMahon and WWE’s leaders were instructed twice by their own assistant general counsel to preserve all documents and electronically stored information, including texts and other instant messages: In June 2022, after the misconduct allegations became public, and in January 2023, after the WWE began contacting potential bidders.

Such holds are routine, and WWE’s leadership “had a duty to preserve evidence relating to Vince’s return and a potential sale” because they could reasonably have expected litigation to be filed, Laster said. But the wrestling promoter, Khan, and others disregarded those instructions.

Facts Now Presumed

Amid sale discussions, Khan messaged McMahon, “Langis.” McMahon responded, “What in the blue hell is ‘Langis’ lol.” Khan replied, “Read it backwards!”

“The record reveals extensive backchannelling,” Laster said.

At trial, Laster will now presume several facts to be true:

• McMahon’s decision-making regarding the merger was influenced by Emanuel’s promises that he would remain at WWE and have legal support for federal investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct
• McMahon had decided to pursue a deal with Endeavor before the WWE began a strategic review process
• Khan communicated with Emanuel in 2022 to facilitate the deal; and
• McMahon and Khan worked with their financial adviser to steer negotiations toward Endeavor and away from other potential bidders

Attorneys for McMahon and WWE’s leadership had described McMahon as “a prolific texter” during a May 13 hearing and, they told the court, 22,000 messages across multiple platforms had been produced to investors. But Signal data sought by the investors wasn’t available for retrieval until October 2025, after devices seized by federal authorities investigating sexual misconduct allegations against McMahon were returned.

Auto-Delete Settings

Laster’s opinion highlights each instance after the document holds were issued that Khan, McMahon, and others at the WWE changed the auto-delete settings for their Signal chats with McMahon.

The judge also noted that voicemails and texts from Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, Endeavor’s president, linking the merger with the misconduct allegations against McMahon. “The Signal chats likely included communications addressing both issues,” Laster said.

Neither Emanuel nor Shapiro are named as defendants in the lawsuit. Laster didn’t accept all the presumptions that shareholders sought to be held as true at trial.

Shareholders agreed to drop a separate lawsuit after McMahon agreed to repay $17.4 million that the WWE spent investigating those claims. McMahon resigned as executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of UFC and WWE, in January 2024, after another sexual misconduct allegation was made against him.

The case is In re World Wrestling Ent. Inc. Merger Litig., Del. Ch., No. 2023-1166, order 5/27/26.