By Jake Barnett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@barnettjake)
WWE announced via press release that company Co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson have departed the company, effective immediately. Along with no longer serving in their roles as Co-President, Barrios and Wilson were also dismissed from WWE’s Board of Directors.
Vince McMahon is quoted in the press release as saying, “I would like to thank George and Michelle for their 10+ years of service and contributions to the organization. I am grateful for all that was accomplished during their tenure, but the Board and I decided a change was necessary as we have different views on how best to achieve our strategic priorities moving forward.”
Frank A. Riddick III, who has served as a member of WWE’s Board of Directors for more than 11 years, has been named interim Chief Financial Officer, reporting to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. WWE has commenced a search for both a permanent Chief Financial Officer and Chief Revenue Officer.
WWE has an investors conference call on February 6th to report it’s 4th Quarter and full year 2019 financial results to it’s investment community. They will have an opportunity to ask questions to Vince McMahon and other WWE participants of the conference call about the stated conflict of vision that led to the departure of longtime executives Barrios and Wilson.
Barnett’s Take: This is an announcement that will have some pretty big reverberations across the company. Barrios and Wilson were credited for the successful launch of the WWE Network and the company’s success on social media and other digital platforms. WWE’s investor community has reacted poorly to this news, and the stock is down about 20% in after hours trading as of the time of this post. Expect an active conversation around this decision on next week’s WWE Conference Call.
Vince is completely bonkers now. There needs to be a serious discussion about removing him.
For real. I can’t imagine how awful that work environment would have to be.
why don’t you stick with your job at mcdonalds. you are so stupid that wwe would not hire you to be a janitor.
wrestling fans should just focus on the fake wrestlers having their fake play fights in the ring and leave the financial affairs to the educated adults. At the end of the day , wwe is VINCENT KENNEDY MCMAHON’S COMPANY and he has the legal right to fire or hire anyone he sees fit according to his business expectations.