So here's how you get paid $600 million for doing your job. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) CEO David Zaslav is looking at a compensation package that could exceed that amount once the studio's $110 billion acquisition by Paramount Skydance (PSKY) is complete. According to a regulatory filing on Monday, the numbers break down like this: $34.2 million in cash severance payments, $115.8 million in vested stock, and a whopping $517.2 million in unvested share awards that would vest upon the deal's completion.
But wait, there's more. The chief executive, already one of Hollywood's best-paid executives, is also expecting tax reimbursements that could reach up to $335.4 million. That's the kind of math that makes even Hollywood accounting look straightforward.
The report comes after Zaslav recently decided to cash in some chips. He sold 4,004,149 WBD shares valued at $114,118,246, according to an SEC filing. All those shares were acquired as compensation from the company between January 2023 and February 2026. It's the kind of move you make when you know a big payday is coming and you want to lock in some gains.
Zaslav has been running the show since April 2022, having previously served as CEO of Discovery before it merged with Warner Bros. He's been steering the ship through some choppy waters in the media landscape, and now he's about to get paid for it.
Timing is everything in Hollywood. On Sunday, Warner Bros. Discovery was celebrating 11 Oscars, led by 'One Battle After Another,' a film by Paul Thomas Anderson that won six awards including best picture, best director, and best supporting actor. But the champagne might have tasted a little different knowing the studio was about to be sold. It's the classic Hollywood story: triumph on the red carpet, transition in the boardroom.
As for the stock, WBD shares are down 3.51% year-to-date but were trading up 0.87% at $27.75 on Tuesday. The market seems to be processing all this news—the acquisition, the executive payday, the Oscar wins—and trying to figure out what it all means for the future of one of Hollywood's biggest studios.
