Stephanie Marie McMahon Levesque ( ; ; born September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is known for her various roles within WWE between 1998 and 2023.
The daughter of Vince and Linda McMahon, she is a fourth-generation wrestling promoter as a member of the McMahon family. She began working for WWE at 13, modeling merchandise for catalogs. McMahon began appearing regularly on-air for WWE (then the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1999 as a part of a storyline with The Undertaker. After a brief on-screen relationship with Test, McMahon became engaged to Triple H – whom she married both on-screen and later in real life – which resulted in the McMahon-Helmsley faction storyline.
She held the WWF Women's Championship once. In 2001, she was the on-screen owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling during The Invasion. The following year, she was the general manager of SmackDown, but stopped appearing regularly on television after an "I Quit" match with her father.
After making only sporadic appearances for several years, McMahon began appearing regularly on Raw in 2008 as the franchise general manager before disappearing again. She returned to regular on-air appearances in 2013, this time under the gimmick of an unctuous, judgmental, bullying owner along with on-screen chief operating officer Triple H. As a power couple, they formed the stable The Authority, making often shady decrees they stated were "what's best for business" and indulging in public displays of affection. McMahon wrestled her final in-ring match at WrestleMania 34 in April 2018, after which she continued to focus on executive roles within the company.
McMahon's business career began as an account executive for the WWF offices in New York, before becoming the company's head writer and director of creative writing. In 2006, she was promoted to senior vice president of creative writing. A year later, she became the executive vice president of creative. From 2013 to 2022, McMahon served as the company's chief brand officer. In July 2022, McMahon was briefly named CEO and chairwoman, and later the co-CEO of WWE alongside Nick Khan, following her father's retirement due to accusations of sex trafficking and harassment paying hush money. She resigned from WWE in January 2023 following her father's return to the company.
Early life Stephanie Marie McMahon was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on September 24, 1976, to professional wrestling promoters Vince and Linda McMahon. She has an older brother, Shane. McMahon and her family are Irish American, and she has expressed pride of her Irish heritage. During a WWE live event in Dublin in 2004, she revealed that her family originally came from County Clare. Her great-grandfather, Jess McMahon, was born to Irish parents who had emigrated from Galway to New York City during the 1870s.
Soon after McMahon's birth, her family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, where she attended Greenwich Country Day School through her elementary years. She started working for World Wrestling Federation (WWF) at the age of 13 as a model for merchandise catalogs. After graduating from Greenwich High School in 1994, McMahon attended Boston University, graduating in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science degree in communications. She became a full-time WWF employee post-graduation.
Business career World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE Early positions McMahon entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as a model for the sales and merchandise department, and began her business career as an account executive for the WWF offices in New York. In her early years with the company, she did reception work, creative design, and television production, and acted as a ring performer. In November 2000, McMahon became head writer of the company, replacing Chris Kreski. After spending time as the director of creative writing, a job she began 2002, she was promoted to Senior Vice President of Creative Writing in 2006.
Executive Vice President
McMahon was promoted to executive vice president of creative in 2007. She was responsible for overseeing the creative process (storylines) for all television and pay-per-view programming and oversaw all aspects of talent management and branding, live event booking and marketing, and social and digital media properties.
McMahon spearheaded the development of the WWE app, which has been downloaded over 20 million times. She also launched a partnership with the USO metropolitan Washington, the social media company Tout, and a partnership with Yahoo to deliver WWE content."Stephanie McMahon and Big Show announce the partnership between WWE and Yahoo!" . WWE. McMahon also led WWE's Creative coalition for anti bullying campaigns.
Chief brand officer
On December 4, 2013, WWE announced McMahon's promotion to chief brand officer, to lead efforts to further enhance WWE's brand reputation among key stakeholders including advertisers, media, business partners, and investors. She also serves as the lead ambassador for WWE and works with business units to support key growth initiatives. McMahon also leads WWE's targeted youth and moms marketing programs.
McMahon's new position enabled her to spearhead the continued partnership with General Mills' Totino's brand.
On February 5, 2014, McMahon, along with CMO and CRO Michelle Wilson, announced a partnership between WWE and KaBOOM! to build a playground for WWE's annual WrestleMania week in Louisiana.
In 2013, McMahon earned a combined salary of over $775,000 for her corporate role and work as an on-screen talent. She also owns over $77 million in WWE stock.
On April 15, 2014, during WWE's annual Business Partners Summit, McMahon confirmed that a new WWE logo would debut the night after WWE SummerSlam, although it was already appearing on WWE products including the WWE Network and NXT.
On August 5, 2014, at the Needham fireside conference, McMahon, alongside her husband Triple H and WWE Chief strategy and financial officer George Barrios, discussed the creative side of WWE, the WWE Network, and the difference between WWE and UFC."Triple H and Stephanie McMahon Discuss Creative at Needham Fireside Chat | TWWRM.org" . twwrm.org.
On May 19, 2022, McMahon tweeted that she would be taking a leave of absence from the majority of her WWE responsibilities. She stated that she was taking time to focus on her family and that she looked forward to returning to the company in the near future.
Interim Chairwoman and CEO
On June 17, 2022, Vince McMahon stepped down as WWE's chairman and CEO amidst an investigation by WWE's board of directors into reported "hush money" paid to a former employee following an affair. Stephanie McMahon stepped in as interim chair and CEO.
Chairwoman and co-CEO On July 22, 2022, Vince McMahon retired from WWE and named his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, the company's new chairwoman and co-CEO alongside Nick Khan. Triple H replaced Vince McMahon as head of WWE Creative. On January 10, 2023, McMahon resigned as co-CEO and from the company following her father's return as executive chairman.
Professional wrestling career World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE McMahon-Helmsley Era (1999–2001) In early 1999, at the suggestion of WWF writer Vince Russo, McMahon debuted as Vince McMahon's innocent and friendly daughter in an on-screen storyline involving Vince and The Undertaker. The Undertaker stalked and abducted McMahon at the end of the April Backlash pay-per-view, which culminated in him almost marrying her in the middle of the ring the next night on Raw, before she was rescued by Stone Cold Steve Austin.
McMahon then began an on-screen relationship with wrestler Test, which led to a rivalry between him and her older brother Shane. After Test defeated Shane at SummerSlam in a "Love Her Or Leave Her Match," McMahon and Test teamed-up for a match on September 20, 1999, with the couple defeating Jeff Jarrett and Debra. The couple were eventually engaged, but during the in-ring ceremony, Triple H showed a video that revealed he had drugged McMahon and taken her to Las Vegas, Nevada, where they were married in a drive-through ceremony. McMahon seemed to abhor Triple H at first, but at the inaugural Armageddon event, after Triple H defeated her father in a No Holds Barred Match, she embraced him and left the ring with him. McMahon confronted Vince the next night on Raw and revealed the wedding was a planned event, which was a revenge plot against her father for the aforementioned kidnappings, thus turning her into a heel character.
In late 1999, with Vince McMahon absent as a result of injuries inflicted upon him by Triple H at the Armageddon pay-per-view, Triple H and McMahon became the on-screen owners of the WWF, a period known as the "McMahon-Helmsley Era" (slightly different from the modern era of "The Authority") and dominated by the McMahon-Helmsley Faction. Triple H held the WWF Championship and McMahon held the WWF Women's Championship after defeating champion Jacqueline with the help of Tori and D-Generation X on the March 28 episode of SmackDown! McMahon successfully defended her title against Lita on SmackDown on June 6 and 16. McMahon reconciled with her father and brother at WrestleMania 2000 when they helped Triple H defend his title against The Rock, leaving Linda McMahon as the only fan-favorite in the McMahon family.
In mid-2000, a love triangle storyline began featuring McMahon, Triple H and Kurt Angle. The storyline continued at Unforgiven when Triple H defeated Angle with a Pedigree following a low blow from McMahon, proving her loyalty to him. McMahon later became Angle's manager and was in his corner when he defeated The Rock for the WWF Championship at No Mercy. The alliance was short-lived, however, as after The Rock performed his Rock Bottom maneuver on McMahon at No Mercy, Triple H attacked Angle, considering it his fault that McMahon was hurt due to her managing Angle at the time. On the August 21, 2000, episode of Raw, McMahon lost the WWF's Women's Championship to Lita despite the interference from Angle and Triple H after special referee, The Rock, performed a spinebuster on McMahon.
The internal disputes between the McMahons led to Linda McMahon being comatose and wheel-chair bound due to the stress of being asked for a divorce by Vince, who took the opportunity to have a public affair with Trish Stratus. McMahon briefly feuded with Stratus, defeating her at No Way Out. Over the next few weeks, Vince made it clear that he favored McMahon over Stratus, allowing McMahon to bully and verbally abuse Stratus. At WrestleMania X-Seven, Shane McMahon defeated Vince in a street fight. During the match, Stratus slapped Vince and chased Stephanie from ringside, apparently upset with Vince's constant misogynistic treatment of her.
The Invasion and kayfabe divorce from Triple H (2001–2002) McMahon later revealed that she had purchased Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and intended to bankrupt the WWF (in reality, the ownership of ECW assets at this time was highly disputed), along with her brother Shane, who had become the on-screen owner of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the two rosters merged to form a "supergroup" known as The Alliance.
Her team, The Alliance, consisting of her brother Shane, former WCW Champion Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle and Stone Cold Steve Austin was defeated by Team WWF consisting of The Undertaker, Kane, Big Show, Chris Jericho and The Rock at Survivor Series in a five-on-five, Winner Takes All elimination match. The night after The Alliance was defeated, Shane and Stephanie were banished from WWF television. McMahon returned in January 2002 when Triple H made a comeback as a fan-favorite, but the couple began having problems when McMahon began acting like a nagging and clingy wife.