When Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was added to the TKO Board of Directors, the expectation was that he planned to take an active role in WWE again (both behind and in front of the camera).
While the Final Boss hijacked the WrestleMania 40 main event and inserted himself into John Cena's heel turn, he quickly left WWE in his dust when he made an Oscar bid as a serious actor in The Smashing Machine. That failed, and Johnson has since been busy shooting a new Jumanji movie.
With all that in mind, you may not be surprised to learn that he was the only TKO Board member to miss over 25% of meetings in 2025. This information comes from the company's annual proxy report filed with the SEC.
During TKO's 2025 fiscal year, the board met five times, and each incumbent director attended at least 75% of the meetings, except for Johnson. That was due to prior business commitments.
Johnson earned $900,000 in royalties in 2025 under a merchandising and independent contractor agreement—potentially lasting up to a decade—that he entered into when he joined the TKO Board in January 2024.
He also received $600,000 in travel expense reimbursements tied to services performed under the Johnson Services Agreement, which is understood to include his appearances at the January 6 RAW on Netflix premiere, the following night on NXT, and Elimination Chamber.
He is now fully vested in the $30 million worth of Class A TKO stock he was set to receive through this deal. Additionally, his company, Seven Bucks Productions, earned under $120,000 for providing production services on a potential non-scripted project, under what the filing described as customary terms.
Last year, The Rock explained why he returned for Cena's heel turn and then abandoned the storyline heading into his old rival's WrestleMania match against Cody Rhodes.
"I got a call about a month before Elimination Chamber. I get a call from Ari Emanuel, who owns TKO. He said, 'We need help at Elimination Chamber. Ticket sales a little slow — but beyond that, what we are finding is, it’s become the pay-per-view that is interesting, fans have had fun, but it’s also the conduit to WrestleMania. How do we create an Elimination Chamber that people must tune in to see. How do we create that? Right now, we don’t have that. Will The Final Boss show up?' I said, 'Let me give it some thought and I’ll get back to you.'"
"When we were moving forward with John and this idea that we would crown him at 17 and being a heel champion, I knew then, the best thing for The Final Boss — we’ve established this idea of Cody’s soul, we can always come back to it. I did feel — and I made the call, 'I don’t want to be involved in that. Let The Final Boss step back into the shadows. Let all the spotlight go to John and Cody. Let’s not make it about Cody’s soul or John’s soul. Let’s let them do what they do.'"
"I called John after Elimination Chamber, called Cody, and I said, 'I think The Final Boss’ work is done. We’ve established it. We just pulled off the greatest angle i the history of professional wrestling,' other than Hulk Hogan turning heel. We have six weeks, now let’s build. You guys go and crush it. I’ll be right there with you and I’m always here if you need me, but I think it’s best for The Final Boss not to be involved in that finish."
Both Cena and Rhodes have alluded to being unhappy with The Rock, especially as it set unrealistic expectations for their WrestleMania match.