Who is Wendy McMahon married to? All about family as CBS News CEO steps down

Wendy McMahon made a significant announcement on Monday, May 19. The television executive is stepping down as the president and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures.

McMahon, an alumnus of Louisiana State University, began her career working at Savannah, Georgia-based WTOC as a promotion manager. In the following years, she held executive positions at different TV stations owned by NBC, CBS, and ABC. On the personal front, Wendy McMahon is married to William “Bill” Burton and is the mother of a son named Chase.

Like his spouse, Burton has been a part of the media industry for years. According to Deadline, William worked at ABC-owned KABC-TV (LA) between 1994 and 2006. He later served as executive vice president for Digital Media at ABC Owned Television Stations from 2006 to 2011.

In 2018, William Burton was announced as ABC Entertainment’s SVP and Head of Daytime, Sports and Syndicated Development/Production, a position he held until December 2020. He was also president and general manager at ABC-owned KGO-TV since 2011 before getting appointed as SVP, per Deadline.

Wendy McMahon resigned almost a month after the 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens’ ouster

The ex-CBS News chief worked at stations like KCAL, KABC-TV, WCCO-TV, WBZ Boston, and more for years. Wendy held the SVP (later president) position as president of the ABC Owned Television Stations before returning to CBS in 2021. At Paramount Global’s subsidiary, MacMahon jointly held one of the top executive positions with Neeraj Khemlani.

They were CBS News and Stations co-presidents until Khemlani’s exit in August 2023. After his departure, McMahon held the chief executive officer’s position until recently. According to NBC, the former CEO told the employees in a note that the past few months were challenging and added:

"It's become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward. It's time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership."

Wendy McMahon’s decision to resign came almost a month after the departure of 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens. NBC cited inside sources to report that Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks spoke to Wendy over the last weekend. During the conversation, she was reportedly asked to step down.

Wendy McMahon agreed to resign after her chat with Cheeks, sources told NBC. After the conversation concluded, the Paramount Global board reportedly held a meeting to inform the members about the significant development, per the insiders.

During his report on the resignation, CNN’s Brian Stelter noted that a settlement between Trump and Paramount is “imminent” after Wendy McMahon and Bill Owens’ resignations. He spoke during the network’s segment on the high-profile departure.":

"One CBS correspondent said to me earlier today, it feels like a purge is underway. That's because last month, 60 Minutes boss Bill Owens stepped down, citing a loss of independence. And now, today, McMahon is also stepping down."

Stelter admitted that both resignations might be “unrelated to political pressure” but hinted that “the pressure is the big story inside CBS right now.” The CNN journalist further said:

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"Wendy McMahon had said to colleagues for a number of months that she would not apologize as a part of any settlement. You'll recall that ABC did apologize to Trump when they settled a lawsuit Trump had filed back in December. McMahon and Owens said they would not apologize. McMahon said, that's a red line I will not cross. That's what she told people internally."

For those unaware, 60 Minutes and CBS News were sued by Donald Trump last year after he accused the network of editing a Kamala Harris interview to influence the public during the presidential race. At the same time, Paramount Global is seeking the Trump Administration's approval for its proposed merger with Skydance Media.

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