Five Different Law Firms Investigating WWE On Behalf Of Investors

WWE is officially under the microscope.

After news broke that the WWE board of directors were investigating hush money payments made by Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon to cover up allegations of misconduct, both by former employees and by McMahon himself, a law firm announced it was investigating WWE on behalf of investors, looking into whether or not WWE violated securities laws. As of today, four other law firms have begun their own similar investigations. While none of these have yet gone far enough to be classified a "class" in a class action lawsuit, they are the preparatory stages for such a case. All of the investigations were announced through Business Wire.

Some of the investigations require investors that have lost a certain amount of money, while others only require investors to either have suffered losses from WWE stock or to currently own WWE stock. All share the same general purpose, to determine whether WWE mismanaged the company or neglected their fiduciary duties in a way that could be considered harmful to shareholders.

The issues began last week, when The Wall Street Journal announced that the WWE board of directors had been investigating the payments since April — one of which was allegedly paid out to silence a female employee with whom McMahon had had an affair. This led to the announcement that McMahon would step down from his corporate duties, while still overseeing the company's creative direction. McMahon's daughter Stephanie has stepped in as interim Chairwoman & CEO.

Despite WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis being put on administrative leave after being named in the board's investigation, McMahon — the central figure of the investigation — remains on WWE television, making appearances on "WWE Smackdown" and last night's episode of "Monday Night Raw."