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WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque was scheduled to be deposed on Tuesday at 11 a.m., according to court filings reviewed by Wrestlenomics, as part of the ongoing WWE shareholder lawsuit over the company’s merger with UFC.
Depositions don’t automatically become public record. Transcript excerpts from them may be used in future exhibits in the case.
The shareholder lawsuit accuses McMahon and other former board members of breaching their fiduciary duties in approving WWE’s merger with Endeavor’s UFC in a process the plaintiffs allege was pre-selected to assure McMahon would remain with the company post-transaction, despite sexual misconduct allegations against him. In a filing last year, McMahon broadly denied the allegations. The other defendants, who are Levesque and WWE President Nick Khan and former company executives George Barrios and Michelle Wilson, filed an answer which is sealed from public view.
The plaintiffs, who represent a class of shareholders, also subpoenaed a phone carrier for evidence related to a phone number we believe is associated with TKO COO Mark Shapiro, based on that phone number appearing on regulatory filings associated with him. Similar requests have been made for phone numbers believed to be related to Vince McMahon, TKO CEO Ari Emanuel, Khan, Levesque, Stephanie McMahon, and others.
The plaintiffs themselves as well as various firms that advised WWE and Endeavor on the merger are also being deposed and subpoenaed.
The case is being litigated in Delaware Chancery Court. McMahon is represented by his own set of attorneys, separate from the other defendants.
Former executives and board members Stephanie McMahon, Frank Riddick, Wilson, and Barrios were scheduled to be (and presumably were) deposed in October. McMahon, Khan, Shapiro, and Emanuel are all scheduled to be deposed before the end of the year.
Questioning in these depositions likely focused on how the deal was evaluated, what information directors relied on, and what role McMahon played as the transaction moved forward.