Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav saw his compensation package soar to $165 million in 2025, tripling the pay package he received in 2024.
The package was driven by option awards that were part of a revised employment contract the executive inked last year, which incentivized him to pursue a strategic review and split for the company, which ultimately which resulted in WBD’s sale to Netflix, and then to Paramount.
His base salary remained the same at $3 million, his stock awards were consistent at $22.6 million, his non-equity incentive comp rose slightly to $25.7 million, and his other compensation (driven by security and private jet use) rose to $4 million, but it was the $109.6 million in option awards that really drove the growth.
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Zaslav had a compensation package valued at $51.9 million in 2024, driven by higher non-equity incentive plan pay of $23.9 million and stock awards of $23.1 million.
It is worth noting that a year ago WBD stock was trading at less than $9 per share, and now it has a signed deal to sell itself to Paramount for $31 per share, with Zaslav getting a lot of that credit by sparking the bidding war.
2025 could very well end up being Zaslav’s last full year atop the entertainment giant, which has inked a deal to sell itself to David Ellison’s Paramount. Paramount says it expects to close the deal this year.
Zaslav will receive a massive golden parachute when that deal closes, though the precise value will depend on a number of factors. It is expected to be somewhere between $550 million and $887 million. That package includes the value of the stock options he has received over the years.
Most other WBD executives, meanwhile, had compensation packages in line with prior years. CFO Gunnar Weidenfels had a package worth $17.7 million, Bruce Campbell had a package valued at $22.3 million, both up slightly from last year.
But with the Paramount deal looming, the future of WBD appears to be set, and the letter from the chairman that accompanied the proxy filing reflects that.
“Delivering strategic changes of this magnitude demanded tremendous dedication from our Board members,” wrote Samuel Di Piazza Jr. “In 2025, our Board of Directors and its committees met 65 times. I am grateful to each of my fellow Board members for their commitment throughout this transformative year, and for the work they did to unlock such significant stockholder value. I also know that I speak for the full Board in conveying our gratitude to the entire WBD team for what they accomplished not just last year, but over the last four years since the company came together as Warner Bros. Discovery – you are truly world-class.”
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