Corporate roles Linda McMahon and Vince McMahon co-founded Titan Sports, Inc. in 1980. Many workers in the company referred to her as the "co-chief executive". McMahon became president in 1993 and CEO of the company in 1997. The company's explosive growth and the way it transformed the wrestling industry caused some observers to label her and Vince "business geniuses". One of her major interests in WWF and WWE was
product merchandising. She negotiated many of the company's business deals with outside vendors and established the company's first line of action figures,
Wrestling Superstars, in 1984. It was a first in the wrestling industry and helped expand the company's popularity with children. She was also the
primary negotiator for the World Wrestling Federation's 2000 TV deal with
Viacom.
McMahon's memorandum to Pat Patterson In a 1989 memo to the company's vice president,
Pat Patterson, McMahon directed Patterson to fire on-call physician
George Zahorian and inform him of imminent legal charges charging him with steroid distribution. This memo became known publicly as the "Tip-Off Memo" during her campaign for Senate in 2010. It became a political liability used against her in both the nomination and general election campaigns.
Federal steroids investigation Following the
murder-suicide of Chris Benoit in 2007, the
Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigated steroid usage in the wrestling industry. The Committee investigated WWE and
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), asking for documentation of their companies' drug policies. The McMahons both testified. The documents stated that 75 wrestlers—roughly 40 percent—had tested positive for drug use since 2006, most commonly for steroids. McMahon was asked why there had been no follow-up during a televised interview with
CBS Face the State on January 20, 2010, and responded: "There's not been any follow-up from any of the inquiries that were made because I believe we had furnished thousands of documents and testimony for them, and I think if they looked at our policy and really delved into it, they would be very satisfied."
PG rating to the head were discontinued by the WWE in order to prevent concussions. In July 2008, WWE changed its
TV parental guidelines rating from TV-14 to TV-PG. In December 2008, at a UBS Media Conference, McMahon described the new rating as a marketing strategy to attract a young generation of wrestling fans and create loyalty to the brand. Due to the TV-PG rating, chair shots to the head were banned, as well as sex scenes, blood, and vulgar language.
Company legacy During the 1980s, the WWF successfully overcame considerable opposition and some media ridicule in lobbying for deregulation in
Connecticut,
Delaware,
Michigan,
New Jersey,
California,
Florida,
Pennsylvania, and
Texas. By 2000, fewer than half of the
50 states had athletic regulations on the wrestling industry. Following common practice in professional sports, WWE classifies its wrestlers as
independent contractors rather than employees. The classification allowed the company to avoid paying
Social Security,
Medicare and
unemployment insurance for wrestlers. McMahon stated the WWE wrestlers had lucrative contracts, merchandising deals, royalty payments, and appearance fees. She noted that many of the wrestlers had agents and considered them to be on par with "singers, golfers, or tennis players". The company offered seminars to help wrestlers select health insurance plans. Under McMahon's tenure, WWE became one of the largest recipients of special
tax credits for film and TV production granted by the state of Connecticut. During her 2010 campaign, Blumenthal's campaign criticized her and WWE for accepting the tax credits while laying off workers in 2009.
On-screen roles induction of
The Ultimate Warrior, April 5, 2014 McMahon often referred to the creative side of WWE as Vince's specialty, stating that she was primarily in the management team, although she appeared in several storylines.
Charitable work through WWE Donations and achievements Through WWE, the McMahons were major donors to the
Donald J. Trump Foundation, giving $4 million in 2007 and $5 million in 2009. The McMahons donated over $8 million in 2008 to the
Fishburne Military School,
Sacred Heart University, and
East Carolina University.
Nonprofit Quarterly noted the McMahons' donations emphasized
capital expenditures. McMahon became a member of the
board of trustees of
Sacred Heart University in
Fairfield, Connecticut, in November 2004. In 2005, she won appointment to The Make-A-Wish Foundation of America National Advisory Council and received the Arthur M. Sackler Award from the
Connecticut Grand Opera and Orchestra for WWE's support of its arts education program. McMahon was a Girl Scout. On April 13, 2012,
Sacred Heart University officially dedicated and opened the Linda E. McMahon Commons Building on its main campus in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Get R.E.A.L. McMahon launched the company's Get R.E.A.L. program to deliver positive messages about education to young adults. The program encouraged literacy through
public service announcements, posters, and bookmarks featuring wrestling superstars. In 2000, the
American Library Association reported the WWF's Know Your Role poster was its highest-selling poster for two straight months. Since 2006, thousands of posters featuring WWE superstars have been distributed to libraries and reading facilities. The campaign targeted the 18-to-30 voter demographic, and made use of online marketing, public service announcements, and youth voting partnerships. The campaign, which registered 150,000 new voters during the 2000 election, was started in coalition with MTV's Choose or Lose, Project Vote Smart, and Youth Vote 2000. As of the 2008 election, it listed 14 voter registration partner organizations. During the 2008 presidential election, Smackdown your Vote! registered many voters online, often in affiliation with
Rock the Vote.
Special Olympics The McMahons began supporting the
Special Olympics in 1986. McMahon first developed an interest in the Olympics from her friendship with
NBC producer
Dick Ebersol and
Susan Saint James, who encouraged them to participate in the mid-1980s.
Sexual abuse lawsuit In October 2024, McMahon was named as a defendant in a lawsuit accusing her, her husband, and the WWE of negligence regarding the
ring boy scandal, in which multiple WWE personnel, including ring announcer Mel Phillips and executives
Pat Patterson and
Terry Garvin, either resigned or were dismissed in 1992 after being accused of sexually assaulting young boys. The lawsuit alleged that the McMahons fostered a culture of sexual abuse within the WWE. The lawsuit was paused by a federal judge in December 2024, pending the outcome of a legal challenge to a state law that could impact the case. The lawsuit was allowed to proceed in February 2025; in April 2025, McMahon filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. She has denied the claims in the lawsuit. ==Political career==