WWE CEO Vince McMahon Loses $350 Million, A Third Of His Fortune, In A Day

[5teamparlay]

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dis...n-loses-350-million-third-his-fortune-one-day


WWE CEO Vince McMahon Loses $350 Million, A Third Of His Fortune, In A Day

Monday, May 19, 2014 12:02 am
Written by: ThePostGame Staff









Even for someone who is familiar with beatings, Vince McMahon could not have been prepared for the drubbing that he had in store last week.
According to Forbes, McMahon, the chairman and CEO of WWE, lost $350 million in a span of 24 hours.

The loss was the result of a few factors, including lack of confidence in WWE's new online streaming network and a somewhat lackluster new TV deal. The new online streaming network has only picked up 700,000 subscribers since launching, and WWE said it expects the network to lose between $45 million and $52 million this year.

<center>

</center>The new TV deal, while still impressive, is far smaller than what some investors thought. WWE's contract with NBCUniversal to keep its hit shows "Raw" and "Smackdown" is worth around $150 million annually, which is half or one third of what many initially thought it would earn.
Together, the weak performance of the online streaming network and Thursday night's announcement of the new TV deal led WWE's stock to drop $8.86 (from $20.13 to $11.27).
That resulted in a huge loss for McMahon, whose net worth peaked at $1.6 billion in March. Then, Forbes reported, "shares dropped 29% the week after WWE announced its new online streaming network had only 667,000 subscribers, taking a $325 million chunk out of McMahon's fortune."
The stock's next big tumble Friday wiped out another $350 million -- nearly a third of his value.
A lack of confidence in the product and falling shares have dropped his fortune to an estimated $750 million.

 

[aceduecetrey]

There was thread here with someone recommending this stock. I did a quick look and could not find it. Hope he got out!

 

[Defying]

He made a killing. Pretty sure last post I saw he was saying get out but I could be wrong. It was hotpizza

if I knew more about it, I'd tail this guy for sure

 

[SECplayer]

I recall the thread as well and HotPizza sounds right. If I recall, he advised initiating a stop loss at a certain price months ago so he would've gotten out fine.

 

[Murphy8276]

I am sure this thing will go above and beyond where the high once was... wwe will figure a way to lure everyone in somehow as they are king in this marketing of a fake "sport" like no other...

-murph

 

[KingofNicotine]

Is the now the time to buy this crap?

 

[NickPappagiorgio]

He didnt lose anything, his net worth went down, there is a big difference.

 

[Akillies]

new online streaming network had only 667,000 subscribers,"


sounds pretty good to me

 

[TyBounce]

He didnt lose anything, his net worth went down, there is a big difference.

Exactly.

On May 17 2013 the stock closed at 8.92.

On May 17 2014 the stock closed at 11.27 (down from 20.13)

So Vince is still worth a little more than he was 1 year ago.

His problem was boastfully and grossly over projecting the network. They boasted 2 million buys and got 700k. ....Dont try to work wallstreet.

 

[TyBounce]

Is the now the time to buy this crap?

NO !

Need to wait and see what happens with ppvs. They cant keep them on the network if theres not over 1 million buyers , but theyve been dropped by directv who has since been bought by time warner , so if tw decides to also drop them there traditional ppv universe will be about 50% of what it once was.

They are in a quandary.

 

[Rambo]

new online streaming network had only 667,000 subscribers,"


sounds pretty good to me

They need to hit over 2 million to be profitable which they hope to do my the end of 2015. Just a few months ago this stock was over 30 dollars but due to low network subs and now their new deal with Nbc/Universal was a lot lower then they wanted, the stock has continued to fall.

 

[KingofNicotine]

Why didnt they do a worldwide launch of wwe network? Wwe is not mainstream enough to attract 1 million subscribers in the US.

 

[MattyMatt]

He didnt lose anything, his net worth went down, there is a big difference.

Bingo.

 

[scottcarter]

Is the now the time to buy this crap?

and some Blockbuster Video stock

 

[jay6s]

Why didnt they do a worldwide launch of wwe network? Wwe is not mainstream enough to attract 1 million subscribers in the US.

i think you are right, here in CR he would have got a lot f suscrbers, i dont even follow this but i know there is a huge fan base so if you add it up worldwide they woudve hit the 2 million easily

 

[GoSooners]

Damn! Gonna have to get by on $350 Million. My condolences...

 

[JDeuce]

Not to hijack the thread, but lost in all this is the paradigm shift in content distribution. I really believe the WWE Network is a road map other sports leagues and networks will follow. Why involve the cable TV middle man if you don't have to? Eventually, the NFL will pull their content off the networks and just do a web-based broadcast of all their games (plus a video archive of past games) for something like $20/month.

This is the last year of DTV's exclusive deal for Sunday Ticket, and I know Google is one company looking to take over as the NFL's distribution partner. It has tons of cash and also a worldwide reach that would appeal to Roger Goodell. Will be very interesting to see how this all plays out.

 

[Defying]

Not to hijack the thread, but lost in all this is the paradigm shift in content distribution. I really believe the WWE Network is a road map other sports leagues and networks will follow. Why involve the cable TV middle man if you don't have to? Eventually, the NFL will pull their content off the networks and just do a web-based broadcast of all their games (plus a video archive of past games) for something like $20/month.

This is the last year of DTV's exclusive deal for Sunday Ticket, and I know Google is one company looking to take over as the NFL's distribution partner. It has tons of cash and also a worldwide reach that would appeal to Roger Goodell. Will be very interesting to see how this all plays out.

interesting outlook... I think we are a little too early for that... I can see that being the future but I dont think the speeds are there yet.. plus these networks pay huge huge money to get NFL games...

Right now, it's going the opposite. NFL Network got rid of some of their games because (i think it was CBS) jumped in and offered more money

 

[SECplayer]

I wish I could lose $350 million.

 

[JDeuce]

interesting outlook... I think we are a little too early for that... I can see that being the future but I dont think the speeds are there yet.. plus these networks pay huge huge money to get NFL games...

Right now, it's going the opposite. NFL Network got rid of some of their games because (i think it was CBS) jumped in and offered more money

Fair points, except money is literally no object for Google. And Roger Goodell wouldn't leave a single penny on the negotiating table if he could help it.

Google could probably triple whatever CBS, Fox, and ESPN are offering for the games without blinking an eye...and they'd still make it back in the end. Google also owns YouTube and already has a track record for broadcasting live streaming events. They could also add a lot of NFL-related content and even give each team its own channel filled with exclusives like coach's press conferences, updated team reports, greatest games of the past, etc. It'd be like a customized NFL Network where you could control what you want to watch for your favorite teams. Basically, a lot of cool shit you can't get with live TV now.

Plus, it's not like families would need to huddle around a laptop to watch. With devices like Roku and Apple TV, it can be streamed to your HDTV with no problems. Not much would change for couch potatoes, sports bar owners, etc.

You are right...next year might be a little too early to do this. I just think it will start happening more and more and it will inevitably move in that direction in the future. Instead of paying DTV $100+ every month (and I probably don't watch 80% of the channels I get), I'd much rather just do an ala carte package where I pay $5/month for HBO, $10 for ESPN, $20 for NFL, etc...they could even offer an ala carte game package where you pay $5 per game instead of $300 for the whole season.