World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. WWE has come a long way since it completed its IPO and became a public company on October 19, 1999.
WWE CEO Vince McMahon appeared recently on the Pat McAfee show carry WWE WrestleMania 38, taking place April 2-3 in Arlington, Texas. During the interview, McMahon discussed some of the ways the IPO changed his mindset and priorities for running the company. One area he said has always been particularly difficult is making decisions about who to fire, who to keep, and who to promote from the talent roster.
Related Link: Triple H will never wrestle for WWE again: Here’s why and a look at just how successful he was in the ring
“Having taken the company public helped me become a better businessman because before that I ran the business with my head, but most importantly, with my heart,” McMahon said.
“These decisions are so damn difficult when you’re doing that because you know who it is, you know he has kids or that, and that and the other or someone has cancer in the family and all of that counts in yours Head. As a public company, you now owe the shareholders something.”
Be a better businessman: McMahon said his responsibilities to investors override his personal feelings about the talent.
“It helps me make easier and better business decisions because my heart — there’s still some of that in there. I know it sounds awful, but it’s true!” he joked.
McMahon said he’s always viewed WWE as a business and whether or not he likes the performers on a personal level is irrelevant. McMahon said that talent who’s been fired from WWE or haven’t had the opportunity to rise above a certain level within the company often chooses to blame the boss rather than question why their careers aren’t going in the direction they hoped has passed.
“Everybody has a million excuses why things didn’t work out and generally the heat has to go somewhere, the old blame game and I’m the bad guy. It’s part of the job,” McMahon said.
Petrol Gas Take: McMahon is a polarizing figure within the professional wrestling community. There is no question that WWE is the industry’s ultimate success story, as WWE shareholders can attest. How much of that success is due to McMahon’s leadership — and how much of it was achieved anyway — will remain a point of contention among his biggest supporters and loudest critics.
Photo: Promotional photo via IMDb
Comments are closed.