UFC President Dana White (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Zuffa LLC
Dana White slapping his wife could be costly for Endeavor Group Holdings shareholders.
White is the president of the UFC, the mixed martial arts promoter owned by Endeavor. A video of White beating his wife at a New Year’s Eve party in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, went viral on Monday. Through noon Tuesday, Endeavor’s shares were down more than 5%, at $21.53, while the S&P 500 had fallen less than 1%.
White told TMZ that he is sorry about the altercation, which he said was sparked by too much alcohol. He said he and his wife, Anne, have known each other since they were 12 and have been married for 26 years. “I’m embarrassed,” he told TMZ.
“You’ve heard me say for years, ‘There is never, ever an excuse for a man to put his hands on a woman,'” White said in the interview, “and now here I am on TMZ talking about it.”
UFC is by far Endeavour’s most profitable segment in terms of EBITDA margin (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). It contributes around a billion dollars, or 20%, of the company’s total revenue.
Endeavor bought a majority stake in the UFC in 2016 at a valuation of $4 billion and purchased the remaining portion in 2021.
Since going public in May 2021, Endeavor’s shares are down 21% compared to a 9% drop for the broader market. Private equity firm Silver Lake Group, which owns nearly 32% of the shares, is the company’s largest shareholder.
In 2018, the UFC signed a five-year, $1.5 billion television deal with ESPN, after which White reportedly said the UFC was worth $7 billion.
Source: news.google.com