WWE Cost-Cutting Memo Written By Linda McMahon In 1996 Surfaces Online
In the mid-1990s, business was not booming for the company now known as WWE. Revenue was on the decline and legal fees from 1994's conspiracy and steroid distribution trial against both Vince McMahon and WWE proper were a major expense, while rival promotion WCW finally had real momentum. In December 2007 Congressional testimony, McMahon himself pegged 1996's losses at $5 million to $6 million, with the resulting cost-cutting including the elimination of everything from drug testing to the office water coolers.
On Tuesday, the full extent of those cuts were laid bare, as former WWE staff photographer Tom Buchanan posted an email memo on his Facebook in which Linda McMahon outlined the changes. All told, there were 12 different cuts: personal long distance phone calls, bottled water/water cooler service, the employee cafeteria, the presence of security guards, unnecessary Federal Express shipments, the number of employees with spending approval, rental of underutilized copy machines, no-cost health insurance, temporary personnel, freelancers outside of "remote television shoots," overtime for working during lunch, and paper memos, which were replaced by email.
"I ended up sending the company a check for a nickel, which conveyed my sentiment about what seemed to be never[-]ending cuts," Buchanan wrote on Facebook. "The cutbacks were deep and harsh and often pointless, but at the very same time we were spending money foolishly in other areas. It often felt like management was stepping over dollars to pick up dimes." He also noted that later in 1996, the photography and publications departments were moved under "creative services," where his budget was tightened while his bosses also demanded that he start using freelance photographers who regularly worked for Sports Illustrated and generally charged three times what WWE's usual freelancers charged. At the same time, he says, the McMahons would also use WWE staff at private family parties while treating it as part of their salaried WWE jobs.