David Zaslav Could Become a Billionaire With Warner Bros. Sale

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…