Since 1982, Vincent Kennedy McMahon has been the most important figure of the WWE brand. Succeeding from his father, Vincent J. McMahon, the now chairman and CEO made a pivotal business decision by creating the WrestleMania series just three years after taking charge of the company formerly known as formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Fast forward 35 years, and WrestleMania has become akin NFL's Super Bowl, MLB's World Series, and NHL's Stanley Cup.
So how much has professional wrestling made the Pinehurst, North Carolina native and third generation wrestling promoter? Let's just say McMahon's net worth is in the billions and makes him one of the richest people alive.
Wrestling History
In addition to WrestleMania, Vince McMahon also started the WWE Raw series in 1993, as well as the WWE Smackdown brand in 1999. The controversial "Montreal Screwjob" of Bret Hart at Survivor Series 1997 caused McMahon to gain momentum in adopting the role of a WWE superstar and one of the most villainous characters in company history, Mr. McMahon. He even wrestled Donald Trump.
This prompted a feud with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and led to The Corporation faction with The Rock and McMahon's son Shane being two major figures aligned with Vince during this feud, before The Rock left Vince and became one of the most popular names in WWE.
The WWE chairman's wife, Linda McMahon, and children have also been a very integral part of WWE's success, as son Shane McMahon and daughter Stephanie McMahon have both been featured characters over the past 20 years, being huge contributors to the success of the Raw and SmackDown brands. Linda McMahon had a major executive role in the WWE for nearly 30 years, before leaving in 2009 for a career in politics.
Also during this time, the husband of Stephanie, Triple H, has become one of the most successful pro wrestlers of the World Wrestling Entertainment brand, as well as spearheaded the success of WWE's developmental brand, NXT.
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In 2001, Vince McMahon expanded his library by cornering the American major pro wrestling market after purchasing his biggest rival, Eric Bischoff and the WCW brand. Although Bischoff used the financial backing of Ted Turner to become a major competitor of WWE, even going 83-straight weeks without losing in ratings during the Monday Night Wars, WWE was still able to use angles such as his rivalry with Austin and D-Generation X led by Shawn Michaels to ultimately win the war.
Although names such as Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, and John Cena were been at the forefront of WWE continuing to stay popular after the Attitude Era, along with names such as Daniel Bryan, Kofi Kingston, Kevin Owens, and "The Man" Becky Lynch being at the forefront of today's product, ratings have been at historically low numbers.
Still, with this information, WWE still landed a blockbuster deal with FOX, and will move the SmackDown Live brand over to the network starting in the fall of 2019.
WrestleMania 35 took place this year at Metlife Stadium in the "shadow of New York" (according to Michael Cole), East Rutherford, New Jersey and WrestleMania 36 is scheduled to take place in Tampa Bay, Florida. There are also rumors of WrestleMania 37 taking place in Los Angeles, California.
Despite a failed attempt in 2001, McMahon is also bringing back the XFL — an American football league — which is scheduled to air games on ABC, ESPN, and FOX Sports.
Vince McMahon Net Worth
WWE's stock has risen to become a United States sports entertainment empire and global phenomenon. That's why Vince McMahon now has a net worth of $3 billion, according to Forbes. As a professional wrestling promoter, this has placed McMahon, a Greenwich, Connecticut resident, at No. 239 on the 2018 Forbes 400 list and No. 691 on the 2019 Billionaires list.
