The judge has ruled against Vince McMahon and Nick Khan in the shareholders’ lawsuit over the sale of WWE

Vince McMahon and Nick Khan have suffered a harsh setback in the shareholders' lawsuit related to WWE's acquisition by Endeavor. The judge determined that both "acted recklessly" by using Signal with messages that were automatically deleted, which is considered destruction of evidence.

The lawsuit accuses McMahon and former members of the WWE board of directors of steering the 2023 sale towards Endeavor to position themselves favorably within the new structure. Shareholders argue that this decision may have left more beneficial offers on the table for the company and for themselves.

With the imposed sanction, the burden of proof has shifted and now it is up to the defense to prove that several claims are not true. Among them are that Ari Emanuel promised Vince a continued role in the resulting company, also offering him legal support for federal investigations, and that Vince had already decided to go with Endeavor before the strategic review process began.

The judge also considered relevant the communication between Khan and Emanuel during the period from August to December 2022, as well as the alleged joint work with Raine to push the process towards Endeavor and away from other buyers. Although Stephanie McMahon, Paul Levesque, and Brad Blum also appear as Signal users, the sanction focuses on the conduct of McMahon and Khan.

Neither WWE nor TKO are defendants in this case, and McMahon no longer works for the company since his departure in January 2024 following accusations by Janel Grant. The trial is set to begin on June 8, so this setback adds even more pressure on the former executive's legal team.