Trump's Department Of Education Secretary Pick Linda McMahon Owns TKO Stock Thanks To Famous Wrestling Past

Linda McMahon is no stranger to working with President-elect Donald Trump and will likely be a member of the new White House administration pending an official nomination and Congressional approval.

Here's a look at McMahon's history with Trump and her investing portfolio linked to her long-running history in the sport of wrestling.

What Happened: Most recently serving as the co-chair of Trump's 2024 election transition team, McMahon has been announced as Trump's pick to be the next secretary of the Department of Education.

Trump has previously said he wants to do away with the Department of Education, which could put an emphasis on McMahon to eliminate items from the department and pick which items to save and place under other departments.

While McMahon's lack of experience in the education sector is being scrutinized, it would be hard to say that the Trump pick doesn't have success leading businesses.

McMahon helped grow WWE from 1980 to 2009 and is credited with helping to build the brand through product merchandising and television deals, two key items that turned the wrestling and sports venture into one of the largest worldwide.

WWE is now a unit of TKO Group Holdings Inc TKO, a sports holding company that also owns the UFC.

Before a merger with UFC in 2023, WWE had been in the McMahon family for over 70 years.

WWE is not as close to the McMahon family as it once was. Linda's husband and high school sweetheart Vince McMahon stepped away from WWE in 2022 due to an ongoing scandal and later stepped down from a leadership role with TKO Group Holdings in 2024 over sex trafficking lawsuits.

The couple is currently separated, according to CNN.

The McMahons are worth an estimated $3 billion together with the vast majority of the family wealth related to the past interest in WWE and current stakes in TKO Group Holdings.

A report from Wrestlenomics said Vince McMahon has sold portions of his TKO Group Holdings stock, but Linda McMahon has not sold her stake.

The Washington Post lists Vince's TKO Group Holdings stake valued at around $950 million and Linda's stake valued at around $67 million.

Linda McMahon currently serves as an independent director on the board of directors for Trump Media & Technology Group DJT, the media company co-founded by Trump.

SEC filings reveal that McMahon does not hold shares of the company and was not paid in 2022 or 2023 for her role as a director. McMahon may receive DJT shares as non-cash compensation "from time to time" according a filing.

If approved as the next Department of Education lead, McMahon is expected to place her financial holdings in a blind trust and resign from board memberships according to her counsel Laura Brevetti.

Did You Know?

• Congress Is Making Huge Investments. Get Tips On What They Bought And Sold Ahead Of The 2024 Election With Our Easy-to-Use Tool

Close Connections to Trump: After leading WWE for many years, McMahon stepped down in 2009 to pursue politics. McMahon ran for a U.S. Senate seat two times, losing in the 2010 and 2012 general elections after securing the Republican Party nomination.

McMahon has been a donor to the Republican Party and past Trump campaigns, which is part of the family's friendship with the president-elect. Trump and Vince's friendship dates back to 1988 when the duo worked together on a Wrestlemania near a Trump-owned casino and a storyline involving the millionaires.

Linda McMahon previously served as the head of the Small Business Administration (SBA) from 2017 to 2019 under Trump, making her one of the few returning faces to the next White House administration under Trump.

McMahon previously stepped down from the SBA to take on a new role as part of his 2020 re-election campaign team. The former wrestling leader has also helped lead a political action committee (PAC) connected to Trump.

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Photo: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Creative Commons