Ultimate Fighting Championship is draining its cash reserves to fund big payouts to celebrity investors — even as its fighters gripe that they are vastly underpaid, The Post has learned.
The mixed martial arts giant has approved a massive $300 million dividend to UFC’s investors — a star-studded list that includes Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Gisele Bündchen, Ben Affleck and tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams, sources said.
Roughly half of the $300 million will go to Endeavor, the entertainment holding company run by Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel, which bought a 50 percent stake in UFC in 2016 for $4 billion. Endeavor also owns Hollywood talent agency WME, fashion and sports media agency IMG and the Miss Universe Pageant.
Wahlberg, the Hollywood producer behind “Entourage” and “Boardwalk Empire,” is slated to nab a roughly half-million dividend, sources said, while Brazilian model Bündchen — wife of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady — is on track to get $145,000.
Other beneficiaries include UFC President Dana White, Endeavor CEO Emanuel — the inspiration for the Ari Gold character in HBO’s “Entourage” — and Endeavor Executive Chairman Patrick Whitesell, ex-husband of Jeff Bezos gal pal Lauren Sanchez.
https://nypost.com/2020/02/13/ufcs-celebrity-investors-have-a-chokehold-on-300m-dividend/