World Wrestling Entertainment, better known as WWE, is in the midst of some big things lately, with the program WWE SmackDown appearing on FOX for the first time last month. But it's also seeing some difficulties on the financial side, with a dip of more than 14 percent on the stock market, thanks to disappointing financial news out of the company. And the biggest loser in all of this, at least on paper, is naturally head honcho Vince McMahon, who is estimated to have seen nearly $300 million and counting drop from his personal net worth tied up in his company's stock.
McMahon reportedly owns about 41 percent of outstanding WWE stock, which is how he can take such a big hit when those shares see such a significant dip in value. As of this writing WWE stock sits at $55.96 per share, a drop of more than $11 compared to where it was only a few days ago, but his steepest drop happened when the market opened on October 31st, when WWE stock diminished by more than $9 per share basically overnight.
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WWE's stock sank amid a deluge of bad financial news for the company in Q3 2019. North American ticket sales are down 18 percent, while online merchandise sales from the WWE Shop are down 16 percent, and the streaming platform WWE Network is down by some 20,000 paid subscribers compared to the average. Adding to all this there are reports that some sort of dispute between McMahon and the Saudi Arabian government is causing problems for the WWE as well, with a bunch of the company's talent having recently been stranded there after the Crown Jewel pay-per-view event. As wrestling reporter Bob Ross posted on Twitter:
"There were rumors among talent that Vince McMahon got in some kind of disagreement in Saudi Arabia, though I haven't been able to fully confirm that…Also, I heard nothing of it being politically motivated. This aspect is a rumor at this point."
Much like a professional wrestling storyline, the stock market is known to bounce around somewhat erratically, so it's possible that WWE and McMahon will be able to regain their lost ground in short order.
