Episode
Never in Doubt: A Strategy Playbook From Former WWE President George Barrios
- Published
- Jun 30, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1688
- Processing state
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- https://episode.flightcast.com/cb4envvugq9zoidus9a1x7sx.mp3
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Summary
Note: This episode contains some strong language. When a recruiter called George Barrios about a CFO job, George was treasurer of The New York Times Company. His verbatim reaction when he heard the company was WWE: "are you fucking kidding me?" He took the role anyway. Twelve years later, the stock had gone from $15 to $100, and he had helped engineer the largest acquisition in sports entertainment history. In this episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast, Anthony C. Taylor speaks with George Barrios, former Co-President and Board Member of WWE, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Isos Capital, and author of Sometimes Wrong but Never in Doubt, about how deep preparation builds the conviction to act when everyone says you are wrong. George and his business partner Michelle Wilson took WWE from a roughly $1 billion North American event business to the company that anchored the $9.3 billion merger with UFC to form TKO Group. Anthony and George explore the insight that the entire industry rejected, why being right when everyone else is wrong is the only kind of right that matters, how over 1,100 meetings in three and a half years changed the market's mind, and what it takes to rebuild after being fired in front of your whole industry. The conversation also goes deep on the research method behind every decision George makes, the partnership dynamic with Vince McMahon, and how he now applies the WWE playbook across La Liga, Ligue 1, and the WTA. What You Will Learn in This Episode - How George and Michelle Wilson took WWE from roughly $1 billion to a $9.3 billion valuation - Why deep preparation, not self-confidence, is the real source of conviction - The insight about live content that the entire industry insisted was wrong - Why being right when everyone else is wrong is where…