Tony Khan Reportedly Made $6.9 Billion Bid for WWE During Sales Process in 2023

As noted before, Endeavor purchased WWE and merged it with UFC to form a new company called TKO Group in 2023. Endeavor’s acquisition deal for WWE is currently the subject of a lawsuit filed by WWE shareholders against former WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon in November of 2023 over claims of “a sham sale process” committed by McMahon for his return to the company earlier that year.

Post Wrestling and Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that AEW CEO Tony Khan had put in a bid for WWE during the company’s sale process in 2023.

Thurston reported that Khan’s involvement in the bidding process was revealed in recently unredacted court filings originally from November of 2023. Khan’s name was not specifically mentioned but the documents stated that it’s “the owner of All Elite Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion that plainly would enjoy a significant synergies with WWE.”

Khan’s bid was part of a bid from a company called Base 10 which is owned by the Khan family.

Thurston reportedly that Khan’s bid was the lowest of the four parties involved in the bidding process at around $6.9 billion. Endeavor’s bid had led the pack at $8.5 billion, followed by Libery Media at $8.5 to $8.9 billion, and KKR at $8 to $8.7 billion.

Endeavor’s offer was an all-stock deal where investors just got their shared converted into TKO stock compared to the other three offers that were just all cash.

Thurston also reported that the non-AEW affliated bidders got access to a data room “where they had access to nonpublic information about WWE — a standard practice at that stage of a major M&A process” but there is no information supporting Base 10 got that same opportunity. Thurston speculated that this could have been due to its lower bid, Khan’s ownership of AEW, or a combination of the two.