Wrestling boss Vince McMahon retires from WWE amid hush money probe

Vince McMahon -- pictured in 2009 -- said he is retiring as WWE Chairman and CEO

WWE boss Vince McMahon recruited the likes of Hulk Hogan -- pictured in 2018 -- who went on to become a megastar far beyond his ring performances

Vince McMahon, the promoter who built a pro wrestling show into a global entertainment empire, Friday announced he was retiring as head of World Wrestling Entertainment -- under a cloud of serious sexual misconduct allegations.

McMahon, whose longtime friends include Donald Trump, became a character in his own wrestling promotions at one stage and even launched a rival to the NFL -- his over-the-top XFL.

McMahon stepped down from his roles with WWE last month pending the results of an internal investigation after allegations he had an affair with an employee and paid her $3 million to keep the matter secret.

The Wall Street Journal reported two weeks ago that McMahon has paid more than $12 million to four women formerly associated with WWE over the past 16 years to keep quiet about affairs and alleged misconduct, including a former female wrestler who claims he coerced her into oral sex.

After taking over from his father, also named Vince, and grandfather Jess, McMahon transformed the WWE from its regional beginnings, into a publicly traded international enterprise with hundreds of employees in offices worldwide.

WWE wrestlers became cultural icons as McMahon used music and storytelling to introduce his stars into mainstream culture, delivering major events such as the first Wrestlemania in 1985 at New York's Madison Square Garden.

McMahon also has longstanding ties to the celebrity-turned-president Donald Trump, who is a WWE Hall of Fame inductee -- and who gave  McMahon's wife Linda a government role as head of the small business administration.

Through telecasts and live shows, the WWE became a star-making machine melding the entertainment and sport realms, producing such colorful characters as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, "The Undertaker," and Ted DiBiase, also known as "The Million-Dollar Man."

In February, 2001, McMahon launched the XFL with many of the same flashy extreme moves and off-field storylines that worked in WWE, but the would-be NFL rival folded after one season due to low television ratings and a comeback bid in 2020 was undone by Covid-19.

McMahon thanked his family, employees and performers for building WWE's success.

McMahon said he leaves the company is the hands of daughter Stephanie and co-chief executive officer Nick Khan.

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