{"id":640548,"date":"2026-04-30T12:38:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T12:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640548\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T12:38:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T12:38:49","slug":"warner-bros-discovery-david-zaslav-salary-and-compensation-for-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640548\/","title":{"rendered":"Warner Bros Discovery David Zaslav Salary and Compensation for 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDavid Zaslav<\/a>, in what could be his last full year leading Warner Bros. Discovery<\/a>, saw his compensation more than triple in 2025 \u2014 largely thanks to nearly $110 million in one-time stock options the company awarded him for leading a plan to split WBD into two entities, which now will not happen with Paramount\u2019s acquisition.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe exec\u2019s total pay package of $165 million for 2025 firmly ensconces him in the top-most echelon of highly compensated entertainment and media executives \u2014 and if Paramount Skydance\u2019s megadeal to buy WBD closes, Zaslav is poised to walk away with a payout of more than half a billion dollars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2025, the compensation package for Zaslav, WBD\u2019s president and CEO, included his $3 million base salary, $22.6 million in stock, a $25.7 million cash bonus and stock options valued at $109,593,181, according to a company SEC filing Thursday.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe company awarded Zaslav the 20,898,776 stock options in a special one-time grant on June 12, 2025, following WBD\u2019s decision to split the company into two publicly traded entities<\/a>: Warner Bros., comprising studios and streaming; and Discovery Global, largely encompassing its TV networks. That, the board\u2019s compensation committee said, was meant to be \u201ca one-time inducement that the Committee believed would incentivize the successful completion of the proposed separation and stockholder value creation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWarner Bros. Discovery\u2019s proposed split is now off the table with the pending Paramount takeover.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn considering Zaslav\u2019s new pay package for 2025, the board\u2019s compensation committee \u201cassessed a range of inputs,\u201d WBD said in the proxy statement. The committee also considered \u201cMr. Zaslav\u2019s deep understanding of our strategy and operations, extensive industry experience and leadership,\u201d as well as his role in the proposed split of the company.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe board\u2019s compensation committee also noted Zaslav \u201cprovided outstanding strategic insights and direction\u201d in pursuing a sale of WBD, which initially led to its deal with Netflix in December 2025 to sell WB\u2019s studios and streaming businesses before Paramount landed the M&A agreement in February 2026. \u201cMr. Zaslav\u2019s strategic leadership created clear and compelling value for WBD stockholders; from the beginning of 2025 to the time of signing the merger agreement with Paramount, our share price increased 164%, and the consideration of $31.00 per share (plus any applicable ticking fee) in the Paramount merger represents a 147% premium to WBD\u2019s unaffected closing stock price of $12.54 on September 10, 2025,\u201d the company said in the proxy statement.<\/p>\n

\n\tZaslav\u2019s 2025 pay package also included $4.1 million in \u201cother compensation.\u201d That comprised $3.26 million in costs related to personal security for Zaslav at his residences and during personal travel; $758,804 for personal use of corporate aircraft; $16,800 for a car allowance; and $10,265 for \u201ctax gross-ups associated with business associate and spousal travel on corporate aircraft at the request of the company that is considered business use,\u201d per WBD\u2019s proxy statement.<\/p>\n

\n\tWarner Bros. Discovery, which is obligated to proceed in a business-as-usual fashion amid Paramount\u2019s takeover bid, also set a date of June 9 for its annual shareholders meeting to vote on measures including electing the board of directors (including Zaslav). <\/p>\n

\n\tWBD investors also would hold an advisory vote on the compensation granted to Zaslav and other top execs \u2014 and at the 2025 meeting, they voted against the executive pay packages<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt an April 23 special meeting of WBD shareholders, they overwhelmingly approved the Paramount merger. But a majority of investors voted against the \u201cgolden parachute\u201d compensation packages for Zaslav and WBD\u2019s other named executive officers in connection with the Paramount merger \u2014 a symbolic rebuke because it\u2019s a non-binding measure and the Warner Bros. Discovery board can proceed with the payouts as planned anyway. <\/p>\n

\n\tUnder the terms of the exit compensation package for Zaslav, he will receive $34.2 million in cash severance; $517.2 million in equity in the combined company; and $44,195 in continued health coverage reimbursement benefits, according to a WBD filing with the SEC. That\u2019s at least $550 million. In addition, Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to reimburse Zaslav up to $335 million for taxes assessed by the IRS on his accelerated stock vesting (although WBD says that figure will decline over time, with the final amount depending on the closing date of the Paramount pact).<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition, Zaslav as of March 11 had $115.85 million worth of vested stock awards from Warner Bros. Discovery, according to the filing. And last month,\u00a0Zaslav sold $114 million worth of WBD stock<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tParamount clinched its $111 billion deal to swallow WBD in February<\/a> after Netflix declined to up its offer for Warner Bros. It\u2019s still pending regulatory approvals, and several state attorneys general have been mulling taking legal action to block the deal. The proposed megadeal also has drawn major opposition from Hollywood unions, A-list actors and directors,<\/a> and others. Paramount has said it expects to achieve $6 billion in cost savings through the merger, signaling mass layoffs if the merger closes.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo help fund the WBD deal, Paramount Skydance brought on the\u00a0sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi,<\/a>\u00a0which have together committed $24 billion toward the merger<\/a>. The combined Paramount-WBD will be 49.5% owned by foreign investors<\/a>; about 38.5% of the equity in the new company will be owned by the three Middle Eastern funds, Paramount disclosed in an April 27 FCC filing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Zaslav, in what could be his last full year leading Warner Bros. Discovery, saw his compensation more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,42677,134,427,6142],"class_list":["post-640548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-david-zaslav","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-warner-bros-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}