WWE founder and CEO Vince McMahon steps back from his roles as CEO and chairman of the company

Vince McMahon, the company's founder, and CEO has "voluntarily stepped down" from his responsibilities as CEO and chairman following a "probe into alleged misbehavior" between him and John Laurinaitis, the company's head of talent relations.

"During this time, McMahon will continue his job and responsibilities connected to WWE's creative content," the company said, adding that he "remains committed to complying with the ongoing inquiry." The investigation is being handled by a board special committee. WWE also announced on Friday that Stephanie McMahon has been named temporary CEO and interim chairperson.

According to the Wall Street Journal, women who allegedly had sexual connections with McMahon were paid multi-million dollar hush-money payments. The board was approached by someone who knew an employee who left the company earlier this year and got a $3 million payout, which sparked the claims. Other payments and legal agreements with other women were later discovered. Laurinaitis used to go by the name Johnny Ace in the ring. McMahon has also played a character in WWE programming for decades.

Despite the fact that the corporation is publicly listed, McMahon and his family effectively control it through their holding of Class B shares. McMahon is married to Linda McMahon, who served as the company's former CEO and as the administrator of the Small Business Administration under President Trump. Stephanie Levesque, his daughter, was the company's chief brand officer until recently, and her husband, professional wrestler Paul "HHH" Levesque, was also an executive.

NBCUniversal (Raw airs on USA Network, and Peacock has the rights to WWE's premium events including Wrestlemania) and Fox Corp. have TV partnerships with the WWE (which airs Smackdown). It has also expanded its programming to other platforms, with A&E acquiring WWE-themed programming and Netflix planning to air a docuseries about McMahon's life.

Vince and Linda McMahon formed and have headed WWE since its inception in 1980 (McMahon's father had been running wrestling businesses since the 1950s).