WWE has announced that former chairman of the board and majority shareholder Vince McMahon will be back into the company after he retired in July 2022 following allegations of sexual misconduct.

The 77-year-old McMahon was the man who took the franchise from being one of the many wrestling promotions in the business to a global powerhouse.

The current chairperson of the company is McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie, who is married to WWE legend Triple-H. The company has not yet revealed the exact position McMahon would be holding on the board of directors.

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He has majority voting power through his ownership of WWE’s Class-B stock. On Thursday, McMahon said he had told the company that he is electing himself and two former co-presidents and directors, Michelle Wilson and George Barrios, to the board, according to The Wall Street Journal report. Earlier, the board had declined a move to reinstate McMahon.

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In a press release on Friday, WWE said that McMahon had removed JoEllen Lyons Dillon, Jeffrey R Speed, and Alan M Wexler from the board. In addition, Ignace Lahoud and Man Jit Singh have resigned as board members, effective Friday, the company said.

WWE shares surged on Friday after McMahon announced a surprise return to the company. The stock was up as much as 22% to $87.94 by midday Friday.

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The wrestling promoter is likely to start renegotiating the media rights deals for its flagship programs, USA Network’s Monday Night Raw and Fox’s Friday Night SmackDown, later this year. McMahon said he would lead those negotiations as WWE’s executive chairman and would introduce a strategic review into other possible broadcast partners.

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“WWE is entering a critical juncture in its history with the upcoming media rights negotiations coinciding with increased industry-wide demand for quality content and live events and with more companies seeking to own the intellectual property on their platforms,” he said in a statement. “The only way for WWE to fully capitalize on this opportunity is for me to return as executive chairman,” he added.

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McMahon owns 28.7 million shares or 37.6% stake in the company, which is worth around $2.1 billion. WWE reported its first year of over $1 billion in revenue in 2021. The company generates most of its revenue from selling content rights. The company has a market value of just more than $5 billion as of Thursday’s close.