Warner Bro. Discovery’s split into two companies next year will come at a personal cost for CEO David Zaslav. The media and entertainment giant on June 12 entered a new compensation agreement with Zaslav, which will lower the targets for his future bonuses and stock grants. The new pay plan responds to growing shareholder concerns over excessive executive compensation and reflects Hollywood’s broader shift toward performance-based pay.
“We structured the new compensation packages to address shareholders’ feedback by fostering pay-for-performance alignment, ensuring industry-standard pay structures, and incentivizing contributions to position the two new leading media companies for success and shareholder value creation,” WBD Chairman Samuel A. Di Piazza Jr. said in a statement.
Next year, WBD will split into two publicly traded companies—one focused on cable networks such as CNN, TNT Sports, and Discovery, and the other on streaming services and studios. Zaslav will lead the streaming and studios spinoff, which includes HBO Max, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, and DC Studios.
Zaslav is among the highest-paid CEOs in Hollywood. Since WBD was formed three years ago through the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc., he has consistently earned top-tier compensation—$51.9 million in 2024, $49.7 million in 2023 and $39.3 million in 2022—even as the company’s share price has declined by 60 percent since the merger.
Zaslav’s $51.9 million earnings last year included:
- $3 million in base salary
- $23.9 million in bonus
- $23.1 million in stock awards
- $1.9 million in other benefits and perks
Under the new compensation plan, Zaslav’s pay will include:
- $3 million in base salary
- A target annual bonus of $6 million (with a maximum of $12 million)
- A target stock award of $15.5 million in the first year, decreasing to $7.5 million annually thereafter
He will also be eligible for a special multi-year stock option grant of up to 20.9 million shares of the newly formed company, with 40 percent vesting over time and the remaining 60 percent tied to specific stock price milestones.
Is Zaslav really taking a pay cut?
Even with the lower bonus targets in his new compensation package, Zaslav could still match—or even exceed—his 2024 pay if certain conditions are met: he earns the full $12 million bonus, receives the entire $15.5 million stock award, and sees the value of the 20.9 million stock options tied to the post-split entertainment company soar.
In a best-case scenario where Zaslav hits all performance milestones, those stock options alone could be worth tens of millions. According to The Wall Street Journal, they could be worth as much as $150 million if the goals are met.
Call it a pay cut if you like, but Zaslav is still set to remain one of the highest-paid CEOs in the U.S. (For context, the median pay for S&P 500 CEOs was around $17.1 million in 2024.)