David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, would be out of a job if a deal is completed with Netflix or Paramount Skydance. Softening the blow: Zaslav stands to get hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and/or stock if WBD completes a sale to either company, which would lift him to billionaire status.
Zaslav’s current stock holdings in Warner Bros. Discovery, along with future grants he is entitled to, would be worth around $660 million in the event the deal with Netflix goes through, CNBC reported. (Netflix and WBD anticipate the deal closing within 12-18 months.) All told, Zaslav would have a net worth topping $1 billion if Netflix wins the day, per Bloomberg. Note that those estimates are based on Netflix’s $27.75/share offer for only WB studios and HBO Max. Paramount’s hostile takeover bid of $30/share (which might go higher) would mean Zaslav’s payout will be even bigger if that deal prevails.
Warner Bros. Discovery did not respond to a request for comment.
Zaslav, 65, has been the highest-paid media exec in recent years. In 2024, his pay package increased 4.4% to total compensation of $51.9 million, including a cash bonus of $23.9 million and $23.1 million in performance-based restricted stock grants — despite Warner Bros. Discovery posting an $11.5 billion loss for the year. In 2021, as CEO of Discovery Communications he received an astonishing $246.6 million compensation package (including stock options valued at $203 million at the time). The Discovery board in part justified Zaslav’s lavish comp by citing his agreement to buy WarnerMedia from AT&T, a deal that was announced in May 2021 and closed in April 2022.
In June 2025 — after a majority of shares voted by Warner Bros. Discovery stockholders were against the pay packages of Zaslav and other top execs, in a symbolic (non-binding) rebuke — the company entered into a new employment agreement with Zaslav that will “significantly reduce” his target annual compensation, “including lowering his annual cash compensation opportunity and reorienting the total pay mix toward long-term incentives,” according to WBD.
However, that was in anticipation of Warner Bros. Discovery’s planned 2026 split into two entities: the Zaslav-led Warner Bros., comprising streaming and studios; and Discovery Global, mostly constituting WBD’s linear TV network operations. Last month, WBD amended the contracts of Zaslav and other top brass so that their stock options will remain valid and eligible for vesting in the event of a sale (of either the Warner Bros. stand-alone entity or WBD as a whole).
Netflix’s megadeal to buy Warner Bros. studios, HBO and HBO Max, with an enterprise value of $82.7 billion, was announced on Dec. 5. Three days later, Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison — his ego bruised after Zaslav ghosted him over Paramount’s aggressive takeover offers — went hostile, saying he was taking his $30/share offer for all of WBD directly to shareholders. Paramount’s current offer has a $108.4 billion enterprise value.
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As Variety reported this week, Zaslav has been telling friends and colleagues that he’s focused on helping to get the Netflix pact to the finish line and ensuring Warner Bros. and HBO Max are in the best financial shape when (or if) that deal closes.
The M&A battle for WBD is not even at halftime — and the price of a proposed deal could go up. Ellison, in his letter to WBD shareholders arguing that his offer is better than Netflix’s, noted that the $30/share proposal was not Paramount’s “best and final” offer. The question now is whether Ellison comes back with a higher bid, despite the fact that hostile takeovers for U.S. companies historically have been unsuccessful.
If Ellison does bump up his offer, would Netflix at that point counterbid? Maybe not: Netflix’s shares have taken a hit amid the WBD deal saga as investors worry about a highly leveraged takeover, so co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters might opt to tap out. Then again, it’s a once-in-a-generation chance to score some of Hollywood’s biggest properties.
However it all turns out, Zaslav, for one, is poised to take home a big bag of money to his Beverly Hills mansion.
From Variety US