David Zaslav, in what could be his last full year leading Warner Bros. Discovery, saw his compensation more than triple in 2025 — 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 if Paramount’s proposed acquisition is consummated.
The exec’s total pay package of $165 million for 2025 firmly ensconces him in the top-most echelon of highly compensated entertainment and media executives. In addition, if Paramount Skydance’s megadeal to buy WBD closes, Zaslav is poised to walk away with a payout of more than half a billion dollars.
In 2025, the compensation package for Zaslav, WBD’s 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.
The company awarded Zaslav the 20,898,776 stock options in a special one-time grant on June 12, 2025, following WBD’s decision to split the company into two publicly traded entities: Warner Bros., comprising studios and streaming; and Discovery Global, largely encompassing its TV networks. That, the board’s compensation committee said, was meant to be “a one-time inducement that the Committee believed would incentivize the successful completion of the proposed separation and stockholder value creation.”
The proposed Warner Bros. Discovery split is now off the table with the pending Paramount takeover.
In considering Zaslav’s new pay package for 2025, the board’s compensation committee “assessed a range of inputs,” WBD said in the proxy statement. The committee also considered “Mr. Zaslav’s deep understanding of our strategy and operations, extensive industry experience and leadership,” as well as his role in the proposed split of the company.
The board’s compensation committee also noted Zaslav “provided outstanding strategic insights and direction” in pursuing a sale of WBD, which initially led to its deal with Netflix in December 2025 to sell WB’s studios and streaming businesses before Paramount landed the M&A agreement in February 2026. “Mr. Zaslav’s 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’s unaffected closing stock price of $12.54 on September 10, 2025,” the company said in the proxy statement.
Zaslav’s 2025 pay package also included $4.1 million in “other compensation.” 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 “tax gross-ups associated with business associate and spousal travel on corporate aircraft at the request of the company that is considered business use,” per WBD’s proxy statement.
Other WBD named execs also saw pay raises in 2025, but nowhere near Zaslav’s.
JB Perrette, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO and president, global streaming and games, had a pay package last year worth $22.5 million, up 14%. Chief revenue and strategy officer Bruce Campbell’s compensation totaled $22.3 million, an increase of 13%. CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels had a pay package of $17.7 million last year, up 3.6%.
Also Thursday, WBD disclosed that it entered into a new employment agreement with Wiedenfels to continue to serve as CFO through April 2028 “on terms substantially similar to those of the Current Agreement” plus a one-time award of restricted stock units with a target grant-date value of $2 million on Aug. 17, 2026. Wiedenfels is expected to exit the company with the Paramount merger; the companies have said they anticipate the deal to close in Q3.
Warner Bros. Discovery, which is obligated to proceed in a business-as-usual fashion amid Paramount’s takeover bid, also set a date of June 9 for its annual shareholders meeting to vote on such measures as electing the board of directors (including Zaslav).
WBD investors also would hold an advisory vote on the compensation granted to Zaslav and other top execs — and at the 2025 meeting, they voted against the executive pay packages.
At an April 23 special meeting of WBD shareholders, they overwhelmingly approved the Paramount merger. But a majority of investors voted against the “golden parachute” compensation packages for Zaslav and WBD’s other named executive officers in connection with the Paramount merger — a symbolic rebuke because it’s a non-binding measure and the Warner Bros. Discovery board can proceed with the payouts as planned anyway. Of the shares voted on the executive exit-pay proposal, 82% were against it.
Under 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’s 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).
In 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, Zaslav sold $114 million worth of WBD stock.
Paramount clinched its $111 billion deal to swallow WBD in February after Netflix declined to up its offer for Warner Bros. It’s 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, and others. Paramount has said it expects to achieve $6 billion in cost savings through the merger, signaling mass layoffs if the merger closes.
To help fund the WBD deal, Paramount Skydance brought on the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, which have together committed $24 billion toward the merger. The combined Paramount-WBD will be 49.5% owned by foreign investors; 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.
