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More subpoenas have been served in the Delaware Chancery Court shareholder lawsuit against Vince McMahon, current top WWE executives Nick Khan and Paul Levesque, and former company executives and board members George Barrios and Michelle Wilson.
Former WWE executive John Laurinaitis, who is not a defendant, was scheduled to be and presumably was deposed this past Friday, September 26 via Zoom from his attorney’s office in Florida.
McMahon’s personal assistants during his time at WWE, brothers Paul Mangieri and Michael (Mickey) Mangieri, have also been subpoenaed for documents.
Liberty Media (owners of Formula 1, among other assets) and major private equity firm KKR are also scheduled to be deposed. Individuals at Liberty Media who are “most knowledgeable” about the subjects the plaintiffs are seeking information about are set to be interviewed under oath on Tuesday, September 30. KKR partner Ted Oberwager will be deposed on October 30. While it’s not been openly confirmed, Liberty Media and KKR may have been bidders or potential suitors for WWE in 2023.
As we reported earlier, each of the defendants themselves and many other WWE executives and former board members are scheduled to be deposed before the end of November.
Attorneys for the shareholder class are expected to question each deponent in an effort to build a record supporting claims that the merger process was not conducted in good faith. It is customary for defense counsel to also examine the witness to elicit testimony supporting their position. McMahon is represented by separate counsel from the other defendants.
With their scheduled deposition dates now past, these individuals have presumably already been deposed: current TKO Chief Financial Officer Andrew Schleimer, and independent WWE board members at the time of the merger Steve Koonin, Steve Pamon, Man Jit Singh, and Jeffrey Speed.
Deposition transcripts and subpoenaed documents don’t automatically become part of the public record. In many cases they remain confidential throughout discovery. But portions of deposition transcripts or subpoenaed documents may become public later if they are filed as exhibits in connection with motions or later if this case goes to trial.
The lawsuit alleges that McMahon was predetermined to merge WWE with Endeavor’s UFC in 2023, rather than having a genuine M&A process that maximized shareholder value. The plaintiffs claim that McMahon believed that only a transaction with Endeavor would allow him to stay with the company, citing McMahon’s friendship with Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel. With the fallout of the sexual misconduct scandal surrounding McMahon that became public in 2022, plaintiffs say any other suitor wouldn’t have agreed to allow McMahon to stay on after that suitor took control. The other board members who are defendants are alleged to have breached their fiduciary duties in going along with McMahon in the alleged scheme.
Laurinaitis was accused of sexual misconduct along with McMahon by former WWE employee Janel Grant, as part of her federal lawsuit against McMahon and WWE. Earlier this year, Laurinaitis flipped on McMahon for the second time and was dropped as a defendant in Grant’s case, in exchange for his agreement to provide evidence for Grant.
Many attorneys from white-shoe law firms have been added to the shareholder lawsuit to represent the defendants in recent weeks. McMahon’s attorneys are from Kirkland & Ellis. The other former WWE board member defendants, including Khan and Levesque, are represented by attorneys from Latham & Watkins.
This case has gotten relatively little coverage partly because it’s being litigated in Delaware Chancery Court, a forum that’s more difficult to access electronically than the cases in federal court involving McMahon and WWE that have drawn more attention. This case is well into the discovery process, whereas the Grant case (in Connecticut federal court) and the ring boy lawsuit (in Maryland federal court) are still in pre-discovery phases.
Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.