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WWE employees used to be allowed to buy company shares at a 15% discount, a benefit that hasn’t been offered since WWE’s merger into TKO in September 2023. Employees have asked about this issue at town hall meetings, including but not limited to the one two weeks ago.
Human resources gave employees with a final answer this week that the benefit won’t be coming back, according to an internal email reviewed by Wrestlenomics.
“Due to TKO’s corporate structure, we are unable to launch a new Employee Stock Purchase Plan that offers the same type of individual tax benefits that were previously offered by the WWE plan,” the email stated.
“However, TKO shares continue to be granted to eligible employees as part of our Long-Term Incentive Plan,” the message added. We’re informed that refers to stock options offered mainly to high-ranking employees.
WWE shares purchased by employees under the discontinued program converted to TKO shares upon the merger, as was the case for all WWE shareholders.
Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.