Another top WWE executive is set to leave the company soon, and there are conflicting reports on who made the decision for Stephanie McMahon to take a leave of absence from her role as WWE Chief Brand Officer.
McMahon hired Claudine Lilien to work as WWE’s Senior Vice President and Head of Global Sales & Partnerships in late April 2021. Lilien, who bills herself as a WWE employee and fan in her Twitter bio, previously held senior leadership roles across FOX Corp., FOX Sports, and FOX Networks Group, and was hired to be a key member of WWE’s senior management team, responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations and leading WWE’s sales organization, while expanding its roster of sponsors and promotional partnerships.
A new report from Business Insider’s Claire Atkinson notes that Lilien has confirmed she is leaving the company. Lilien’s LinkedIn and Twitter bios still list her as working for the company, so it looks like she is still there for now.
It is interesting to note that Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian recently mentioned that Lilien was already released. Zarian’s late May report noted that investors were wondering why WWE’s ad sales and sponsorships weren’t performing that well, before McMahon announced her leave of absence to be with family on May 19. Zarian indicated that “a month ago” or some time in mid-to-late April, Lilien went over to try and “handle” the issues, but she was “released” around the same time, which would’ve been mid-to-late April. Zarian also noted that WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan had taken over all of those advertising & sponsorship responsibilities. Zarian had also stated that there was some internal doubt put on McMahon and her abilities as an executive, and that a lot of the doubt started after she absorbed some of the responsibilities held by former WWE Co-President Michelle Wilson, who was let go in January 2020.
McMahon announced back on May 19 that she was taking a leave of absence to be with family, indicating that she would be back at some point because WWE is a part of her life. Many people within WWE expected her to be back as well. It was reported by multiple sources that Khan was taking over some of McMahon’s duties while she is away, while WWE also put out a job listing for a Director of Brand & Marketing. It was then revealed just today that WWE has hired Catherine Newman to work as the new Executive Vice President & Head of Marketing.
This new report from Business Insider claims McMahon was replaced in her corporate role as part of a shake-up executed by her father, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. The BI report is protected by a paywall, and it appears many outlets just ran with the headline of “Vince forced Stephanie into a leave of absence,” without actually reading the full report on the Business Insider website. The report does not directly say Vince pushed Stephanie out.
Furthermore, Dave Meltzer noted today on the Wrestling Observer forum that there is no truth to any report that says Vince forced Stephanie out, and that Stephanie chose to take the leave of absence on her own.
The BI report also reported that WWE is currently interviewing candidates to fill McMahon’s role and grow the company’s brand and sponsorship deal. Bi cited Vince’s comments on The Pat McAfee Show from back in March, where he said he’s probably expected more from his family members than of other employees, adding that you have to do the right thing for the business. “If this person isn’t working out, they shouldn’t be part of the company,” BI recalled Vince saying to McAfee.
It was then noted by BI that Vince’s comments from March were echoed by “other insiders” at WWE. One insider allegedly said, “Family or not family, we’ve got to get the right people in place,” adding that there’s only one person in charge, and that’s Vince, which we’ve all known for many years now. No matter what it is, from creative decisions to office matters, Vince always has the final say-so.
The BI report said WWE has a goal of generating $100 million annually via brand partnerships, while keeping an eye on the success of UFC in the same space. WWE brought in close to $20 million in advertising-related revenue during the first three months of this year. While ad sales are executed by WWE’s programming partners, such as NBCU’s USA Network and Peacock, plus A&E and Fox, WWE reportedly has that $100 million per year goal in mind, which is something Stephanie recently touched on during the Q3 2021 earnings call held back in November.
During that November earnings call, an investor asked about sponsorship opportunities, something he believes WWE has historically undermonetized. He also asked about WWE’s ultimate opportunity and the strategy to get to that goal over the next few years.
Stephanie responded, “There is no reason why in the next 3 to 5 years, we couldn’t be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. And in terms of -strategy, it’s really the 4 key [areas] that I laid out earlier in my remarks – the content [integrations], our talent [Superstar brands], digital, social and international.”
Regarding Stephanie’s comments from November, a WWE insider reportedly told Business Insider that they were not seeing that kind of growth while she was around.
“We weren’t seeing that growth,” said BI’s WWE insider of Stephanie’s tenure. “When someone is moved out of a company, it’s usually the result of something not working. We took stronger control of that a few months ago.”
After WWE parted ways with Wilson and George Barrios back in January 2020, they hired Khan that August, and since then several departments have been re-structured with several top executives joining the company.
Brandon Ross, an analyst and investor at LightShed Partners, told Business Insider that WWE has made some questionable hiring decisions in the past few years, and he’s also seen declines in TV ratings amid the erosion of traditional linear viewing, but on the other hand, WWE has been effective at drawing and keeping Peacock subscribers. Ross also pointed to how WWE stock is up 34% year-to-date, in part because live events are showing strength again due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions easing, and how recurring program license revenue is viewed as protected from fluctuations in the ad market.
“While there was employee turnover, they generally have the team in place that they want to go forward with, notwithstanding Stephanie’s leave of absence,” Ross said. “Ratings and creative seem to have stabilized. Now they’re looking ahead to the Raw and SmackDown domestic renewals, which will be settled next year. The big outstanding question is who the bidders are going to be. To that end, will one, or more, of the streaming platforms want to take a swipe?”
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
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