Court filings unsealed this week revealed that Tony Khan’s Base 10 company submitted a bid of approximately $6.9 billion to acquire WWE in 2023, before Endeavor ultimately completed a merger to create TKO Group Holdings. The disclosure, reported by Brandon Thurston of WrestleNomics and POST Wrestling, has prompted industry reaction, including skepticism from veteran wrestling executive Eric Bischoff.
Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff expressed disbelief at the prospect of Khan controlling WWE. “Can you imagine the cluster that that would have been?” Bischoff said. “Imagine Tony Khan trying to run WWE. Oh gosh.” (h/t WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
The bid from Base 10, valued at $76.83 per share, was the lowest of the four offers considered, according to the court documents. Endeavor’s winning bid was valued at $95.66 per share prior to synergies. Liberty Media submitted a bid in the range of $8.5 to $8.9 billion, while KKR offered between $8 and $8.7 billion. The filings similarly indicated that Base 10 would have required equity and debt financing partners to finalize the transaction, suggesting a less robust financial position compared to the other bidders.
Base 10’s connection to AEW was explicitly noted in the court documents, which described the company as “the owner of All Elite Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion that plainly would enjoy significant synergies with WWE.” Legal filings reveal that AEW’s parent company is Beatnik Investments LLC, a separate entity within the Khan family, with Warner Bros. Discovery holding a minority stake in AEW.
Despite his reservations, Bischoff suggested that Khan could be a frontrunner should WWE become available for purchase again. “Not only could I imagine it, I am going to make a bold prediction,” Bischoff stated. “If and when WWE is ever for sale, We see going to be Saudi Arabia or Tony Khan who buys the thing. That is the only logical play. Imagine anybody else who would be willing to pay the premium that TKO is going to be looking for outside of perhaps Saudi Arabia or Tony Khan.”
The shareholder lawsuit that prompted the unsealing of the bid information alleges that the 2023 sale process was unfair and favored Endeavor, led by Ari Emanuel, to ensure Vince McMahon’s continued involvement with the company. The defendants have denied these allegations.
As of Friday, March 20, 2026, TKO Group Holdings’ share price is trading at approximately $200, more than doubling the bid prices from 2023. WWE has not issued a comment regarding the newly revealed details of the 2023 sale process.
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