Background and career
Stephanie Marie McMahon Levesque ( mək-MAN lə-VEK; née McMahon; 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.
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.
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, 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.
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. McMahon also led WWE's Creative coalition for anti bullying campaigns.
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. 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.
