During an interview with Sage Steele, former WWE CEO Linda McMahon reflected on a difficult period in her family’s life, revealing the financial hardships they faced while she was pregnant with her daughter Stephanie in 1976.
McMahon explained that at the time, their accountant advised them to diversify their investments rather than rely solely on wrestling. Acting on that advice, the couple invested in a construction company, despite having no experience in that industry.
“We did have a young accountant who suggested that we were sort of putting all of our eggs in one basket and should diversify a little bit. He made a suggestion that we should invest because he had invested in a construction company of all things, which, of course, we knew absolutely nothing about. But we did put money into some construction accounts. We co-signed on some loans for those.”
Unfortunately, the investment backfired, leading to bankruptcy and the loss of nearly everything they owned.
“That went belly up, which eventually put us into bankruptcy. It wasn’t the wrestling side of what we were doing in that business, but the other side we had invested in outside of wrestling. We lost everything. My house was auctioned off. My car was repossessed in the driveway. I was pregnant with Stephanie, our second child. So, I know what it’s like to lose everything.”