Shareholder plaintiffs in a lawsuit over WWE's merger with Endeavor have accused executives including Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, and Paul Levesque of destroying relevant evidence such as Signal messages and handwritten notes. They are requesting the Delaware Chancery Court to impose adverse inferences against the defendants. The motion highlights a previously unreported December 2022 meeting between McMahon, Khan, Stephanie McMahon, and Endeavor executives.
In a recent motion filed in the Delaware Chancery Court, plaintiffs in the ongoing WWE shareholder lawsuit are seeking sanctions against defendants Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, and Paul Levesque, also known as Triple H, for the alleged destruction of evidence related to the 2023 merger that formed TKO Group Holdings by combining WWE and UFC.
The filing, reported by POST Wrestling, alleges that McMahon, Khan, Levesque, as well as non-defendants Stephanie McMahon and former executive Brad Blum, failed to preserve communications despite multiple notices from WWE's legal team. Under Delaware law, parties must retain potentially relevant materials once litigation is anticipated. The evidence in question includes messages on the Signal app, which allows auto-deletion, and McMahon's handwritten notes.
Khan is described as spearheading Signal communications and deleting conventional text messages, which plaintiffs claim included discussions on the merger and investigations into McMahon's alleged misconduct. A table produced during discovery shows McMahon's Signal communications with individuals such as Khan, Levesque, Ari Emanuel, Stephanie McMahon, Turki Al-Sheikh, Brock Lesnar, Bruce Prichard, and Kevin Dunn, though auto-deletion settings for certain parties are redacted in public versions.
The motion introduces a new allegation: a December 13, 2022, meeting between Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Khan, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, and President Mark Shapiro, weeks before McMahon returned to WWE using his controlling interest and pushed for a sale or merger. This follows previously reported communications between McMahon and Emanuel throughout the summer of 2022, including an August meeting, and texts from Shapiro anticipating McMahon's return hours after his July 2022 retirement announcement amid a sexual misconduct scandal.
One cited exchange involves Khan texting McMahon "Langis" about the 2023 WrestleMania main event, later explaining it as "Signal" spelled backwards, which plaintiffs argue directed the conversation to the encrypted app. Khan's attorneys have stated he has no recollection of the deleted messages' content.
The lawsuit, filed in 2023, claims McMahon predetermined the Endeavor deal to secure his post-merger role rather than maximizing shareholder value, with the process allegedly rigged. Defendants deny the allegations. Representatives for TKO, WWE, Vince McMahon, and Stephanie McMahon did not respond to comment requests. The case is set for trial in June 2026, where success could yield damages in tens or hundreds of millions, as even small valuation differences in billion-dollar mergers carry significant financial weight.
