According to the SEC’s order, McMahon made the payments to prevent the unnamed recipients from airing personal “allegations” and “potential claims” against him, then failed to tell company auditors and shareholders about the settlements, which totaled $10.5 million.

Because he failed to disclose the agreements to WWE, the publicly traded company wasn’t able to evaluate or account for the transactions in its financial statements — they thus issued inaccurate financials in 2019 and 2022, the agency said.

Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, McMahon has consented to the order’s filing, agreed to “cease and desist” from violating the law, will pay a $400,000 civil penalty and reimburse WWE by $1.33 million.

“Company executives cannot enter into material agreements on behalf of the company they serve and withhold that information from the company’s control functions and auditor,” SEC Associate Regional Director Thomas Smith Jr., said in a statement.

The recipients of the payments weren’t disclosed by the SEC, but former WWE employee Janel Grant claimed in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed in January 2024 against McMahon and that she left her job after the WWE chief’s wife Linda McMahon — who is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for education secretary — learned of their relationship.

She claims she signed a non-disclosure agreement for which she was to be paid.

McMahon resigned from the board of TKO Holdings Group after Grant publicly accused him of sexual assault, trafficking and abuse. In a court filing, she leveled charges of emotional and physical abuse, sexual assault and trafficking while she was a company employee.

In a statement posted to social media, McMahon said Friday’s SEC settlement means the “case is closed.”

“Today ends nearly three years of investigation by different governmental agencies,” he wrote. “There has been a great deal of speculation about what exactly the government was investigating and what the outcome would be. As today’s resolution shows, much of that speculation was misguided and misleading.”

McMahon characterized the matter as “minor accounting errors with regard to some personal payments that I made several years ago while I was CEO of WWE.”

But Grant’s attorney, Ann Callis, issued a statement saying the SEC settlement is not an exoneration of McMahon but rather “proof” that a crime was committed. She urged New York authorities bring criminal charges against the WWE founder and former executive John Laurinaitis.

“During his time leading WWE, Vince McMahon acted as if rules did not apply to him, and now we have confirmation that he repeatedly broke the law to cover up his horrifying behavior, including human trafficking,” Callis wrote. “The SEC’s charges prove that the NDA Vince McMahon coerced Ms. Grant into signing violates the law, and therefore her case must be heard in court.

“While prosecutors for the Southern District of New York continue their criminal investigation, we look forward to bringing forward new evidence in our civil case about the sexual exploitation Ms. Grant endured at WWE by Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis,” Callis wrote.