As of April, Forbes estimates Vince McMahon’s fortune to be $2.8 billion, making him one of the 735 billionaires in the country. Vince, Linda McMahon, and their two children have plenty of money to go around. But that wasn’t always the case. In 1976, when Vince worked for his father’s business, Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the couple filed for bankruptcy after racking up $1 million in debt, the Connecticut Post reported in 2010 amid Linda’s U.S. Senate bid.
During that time, Vince and Linda, who was pregnant with Stephanie and caring for a young Shane, had even to briefly resort to using food stamps to make ends meet, a program she defended during her candidacy against her fellow Republicans’ rhetoric. “I can tell you in today’s economy, with so many people out of work, I would not support cuts to our food and nutrition programs,” she told the Connecticut Post in 2012.
Even though the McMahons’ financial troubles arose after a miscalculated investment in the stunt performer Evel Knievel, they have used the bankruptcy to promote their brand. In her unsuccessful runs, Linda promoted their self-made story to advance her campaign promises and continued to long after. “It was tough, but you know, it’s not how you fall but how you get up,” she said in a Facebook Live in 2017 (via CNBC), shortly after she was appointed head of the Small Business Administration by Donald Trump, a longtime friend of the McMahons.
