Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav received a 2024 compensation package worth $51.9 million, compared with $49.7 million in 2023 and $39.3 million in 2022 when the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger closed.
The entertainment conglomerate disclosed latest pay details for its top executives in a regulatory filing on Friday.
Zaslav’s compensation increase of 4 percent was driven by higher non-equity incentive plan pay, up from $22.0 million to $23.9 million, and slightly higher stock awards ($23.1 million) and “other” compensation ($1.9 million).
Earlier in the morning, WBD had unveiled that John Malone would move to the role of chair emeritus, staying “actively involved.”
Zaslav’s 2023 rise in compensation had been due in part to a decision by WBD to change its executive compensation plan to focus on cash flow, rather than its stock price. In 2023, WBD’s free cash flow rose in part due to the Hollywood strikes, which shut down productions for months.
In 2021, then-Discovery CEO Zaslav famously received a pay package worth $246.6 million, a big jump from $37.7 million in 2020 and $45.8 million in 2019. That was driven by a May 2021 employment agreement that was set to keep Zaslav at the company through the end of 2027. (Stock options that he received related to the extension boosted the calculated value of his 2021 compensation package, even though they didn’t lead to any immediate payouts, with much of the compensation set to vest over the course of his employment contract period.)
WBD’s regulatory filing also disclosed pay for other top WBD executives, such as CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, chief revenue and strategy officer Bruce Campbell, and streaming and games chief JB Perrette.
Wiedenfels’ 2024 compensation package was up minimally at nearly $17.1 million, while Campbell’s rose from $18.3 million to $19.8 million. Perrette’s declined slightly from $20.1 million to $19.7 million. Gerhard Zeiler, WBD’s president, international, received a pay package worth $14.8 million last year, compared with $13.3 million in 2023.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s stock dropped 9 percent in 2024, while its financials were mostly lower.
MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman has a “buy” rating on WBD shares. “Perhaps no company better represents all the hopes and crushed dreams of the media industry over the past few years than Warner Bros. Discovery,” he wrote in a March 10 report. “Created to leverage the cash flows of a larger cable network portfolio and then make the pivot into streaming, instead its market cap plummeted as its efforts to reinvent itself crumbled under secular pressures and unlucky breaks. Investor patience has waxed and waned. WBD stock is far from its mid-2024 summer lows but still doesn’t reflect anywhere near full investor confidence in the story.”
Concluded the Wall Street expert: “Three years after the merger closed, it is time for WBD to start delivering on its promises of meaningful direct-to-consumer profits, a sustainable studio business and a stable pace of decline at networks. If that path keeps falling short of expectations, we think it is only a matter of time before Warner Bros. Discovery’s collection of valuable assets ends up in different hands.”
WBD’s virtual shareholder meeting will take place Monday, June 2 at 10 a.m. ET.