Warner Bros Discovery David Zaslav Salary and Compensation for 2025

David Zaslav, in what could be his last full year leading Warner Bros. Discovery, saw his compensation more than triple by 2025 – thanks in large part to nearly $110 million in one-time stock options the company awarded him for leading a plan to split WBD into two entities, which won’t happen now if the proposed Paramount acquisition is completed.

The executive’s total salary package of $165 million for 2025 entrenches him firmly in the upper echelon of highly paid entertainment and media executives. Furthermore, if Paramount Skydance’s mega deal to buy WBD closes, Zaslav is poised to walk away with a payout of over 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 worth $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., consisting of studios and streaming; and Discovery Global, which largely includes its TV networks. That, the board’s compensation committee said, was intended as “a one-time incentive that the committee believed would encourage the successful completion of the proposed separation and the creation of shareholder value.”

The proposed split of Warner Bros. Discovery is now off the table with its impending acquisition of Paramount.

In considering Zaslav’s new 2025 pay package, the board’s compensation committee “reviewed a range of inputs,” WBD said in the proxy statement. The committee also took into account “Mr. Zaslav’s deep understanding of our strategy and operations, extensive industry experience and leadership,” as well as his role in the proposed separation of the company.

The board’s compensation committee also noted that Zaslav “provided excellent strategic insights and direction” in pursuing a sale of WBD, which initially led to Netflix’s December 2025 deal to sell WB’s studios and streaming business before Paramount secured the merger and acquisition deal in February 2026. Paramount, our stock price is up 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 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 included $3.26 million in costs related to Zaslav’s personal safety 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 “gross taxes associated with travel of business associates and spouses on business aircraft at the request of the company, which is considered a business use,” according to WBD’s proxy statement.

Other executives named WBD also saw pay increases in 2025, but they were nowhere near Zaslav’s.

JB Perrette, CEO and president of Warner Bros. Discovery, global streaming and games company, had a pay package worth $22.5 million last year, up 14%. Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer Bruce Campbell’s compensation totaled $22.3 million, an increase of 13%. CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels had a salary package of $17.7 million last year, an increase of 3.6%.

On Thursday, WBD also announced that it has entered into a new employment agreement with Wiedenfels to continue serving 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 of $2 million on August 17, 2026. Wiedenfels is expected to leave the company with the Paramount merger; the companies have said they expect the deal to close in the third quarter.

Warner Bros. Discovery, which is required to continue business as usual amid Paramount’s takeover bid, also set a June 9 date for its annual shareholder meeting to vote on measures such as the election of its board of directors (including Zaslav).

WBD investors would also hold an advisory vote on the compensation awarded to Zaslav and other top executives – and at the 2025 meeting they voted against the executive compensation packages.

At a special meeting of WBD shareholders on April 23, 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 executives in connection with the Paramount merger – a symbolic rebuke because it is a non-binding measure and the Warner Bros. board. Discovery can continue with the payouts as planned. Of the shares that voted on the proposal for an exit pay for top management, 82% were against.

Under the terms of Zaslav’s exit compensation package, he will receive a $34.2 million severance package; $517.2 million of equity in the combined company; and $44,195 in continued health coverage fees, according to a WBD filing with the SEC. That’s at least $550 million. In addition, Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to reimburse Zaslav up to $335 million for taxes imposed by the IRS on his accelerated stock acquisition (although WBD says this amount will decrease over time, with the final amount depending on the closing date of the Paramount pact).

In addition, as of March 11, Zaslav had $115.85 million in vested stock awards from Warner Bros. Discovery, according to the filing. And last month, Zaslav sold $114 million worth of WBD stock.

Paramount closed its $111 billion deal to acquire WBD in February after Netflix declined to accept its bid for Warner Bros. to increase. It is still awaiting regulatory approval, and several attorneys general are considering taking legal action to block the deal. The proposed megadeal has also drawn major opposition from Hollywood unions, A-list actors and directors, and others. Paramount has said it expects to save $6 billion in costs from the merger, pointing to massive layoffs if the merger is completed.

To help finance the WBD deal, Paramount Skydance tapped the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, which together committed $24 billion to 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 announced in an April 27 FCC filing.