Donald Trump has just sold the Miss Universe Organization, which includes the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageant groups, to the agency WME/IMG.
The agency made the announcement on Twitter on Monday morning.
—IMG (@IMG) September 14, 2015
Trump issued the following statement:
"I have truly enjoyed owning the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA pageants. When I purchased the pageants many years ago, they were in serious trouble. It has been a great honor making them so successful … The pageants are now in the hands of a great company that will shepherd them to even greater levels of success.”
According to Trump's financial disclosure forms with the Federal Election Commission, The Miss Universe Organization has a value between $5 million and $25 million.
—Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2015
Earlier this year, NBCUniversal's NBC and Univision networks refused to air the Miss USA pageant after Trump made controversial statements about Mexican immigrants while he announced his presidential run. In a last-minute deal, the Reelz channel aired the pageant. There it drew 4 million fewer viewers than the year before when the pageant aired on NBC.