If you thought you spent a bit too much money on Friday night, spare a though for Vince McMahon.
The WWE is making a lot of money these days, but not quite enough for Vince McMahon, as he took a pretty huge hit on Friday according to Forbes.
The former billionaire is now no longer a billionaire thanks to a TV rights deal that didn't quite go to plan with the folks at NBCUniversal, and that disappointed investors quite a bit. By quite a bit, we're talking about $350 million worth of disappointment.
The stock of his company took a body slam of a hit after the news, dropping in valuation from $20 (where it was on closing time at Thursday) to $11 on Friday, nearly a 40% fall.
Earlier in the year, McMahon's personal fortune had been valued at $1.6 billion, but after the numbers for the WWE Network (a streaming service launched by the wrestling heavyweight earlier this year) attracted less subscribers than hoped, and this latest hit on the TV deal, McMahon's fortune is now down to only $750-odd million. That's still plenty of walking around money, in particular if you walk like Vince.
Mcmahon hasn't hit Rock Bottom yet by any stretch, and his Pedigree in financial matters to date has shown to be solid, but with those two moves taking $325 million and $350 million out of his fortune respectively, the path to profit for the investors looks less certain, and that has inspired the drop in stock prices. The streaming service needs to hit around 1.3 million subscribers to become profitable, and while pay-per-view revenues have fallen off the top rope as a result, the WWE remain confident in their strategy and hope to hit one million by the end of the year, as they transition into the digital era.
There have been some calls for McMahon's head to roll as a result, but it might be a bit premature to call in the Undertaker just yet, we imagine.
