Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav may be out of a job, but he’s scoring a windfall of over $600 million from the company’s merger with Paramount Skydance.
Per a Thursday SEC filing, Zaslav will receive a total of $606.1 million for shares held in the company as of the merger’s Oct. 6 closing date. The total amount includes around $224.4 million worth of shares that were sold and $381.7 million worth of stock options.
The merger saw Paramount pay WBD stockholders $31 apiece for their shares. The David Ellison-led media giant was also on the hook for a 25 cent per share ticking fee for every day the deal wasn’t closed after Oct. 1.
As TheWrap has previously reported, Zaslav was eligible to receive at least $551.5 million in cash, equity and benefits tied to the closing of the merger.
He was also eligible to receive a tax reimbursement, though that actual amount significantly declines with the passage of time under IRS rules. Had the merger closed on March 11, Zaslav would’ve been eligible for a $335.4 million tax reimbursement, bringing his estimated total compensation package to $887 million.
The final terms of Zaslav’s severance package were not disclosed. In a non-binding vote back in April, WBD shareholders overwhelmingly rejected Zaslav and other top executives’ golden parachutes tied to the merger.
The payout comes as Zaslav has already sold around $195 million in stock, including $21.7 million worth in August, $59 million worth in July and $114 million worth in March as part of a Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement.
Zaslav is also among the highest paid executives in the media industry. He scored a pay package of $165 million in 2025, which included a one-time grant of stock options tied to WBD’s initial plans to separate its studios and streaming business from its linear networks business.
The plans to split the company were scrapped in favor of an $83 billion deal with Netflix for the company’s streaming and studio assets. However, Paramount would eventually submit a superior $110 billion offer for the entire company, with Netflix deciding not to match it.
A WBD spokesperson noted that Zaslav more than doubled the number of employees who hold equity at the company compared to the two companies separately beforehand.
In addition to Zaslav, other executives who were eligible for golden parachute compensation tied to the merger were WBD Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer Bruce Campbell, Streaming and Games chief JB Perrette and International President Gerhard Zeiler.
Wiedenfels, Campbell and Perrette will receive transaction bonuses of $2.14 million, $2.95 million and $2.85 million, respectively, which are payable within 60 days of the merger’s closing.
Zeiler is expected to exit the combined company, known as Skydance, while Perrette has joined the new leadership team as TV and DTC Co-Chair and Chief Business Officer.
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