The biggest winners in the Warner Bros. Discovery deal with Paramount Skydance are the WBD’s top executives.
CEO and President David Zaslav, Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels, Chief Revenue Officer Bruce Campbell, CEO of Global Streaming and Games Jean-Briac Perrette and International President Gerhard Zeiler are all set to receive payments of at least $82 million in cash and stock.
Zaslav will get the biggest payout with cash and stock at over $550 million. He could receive an additional $335 million in tax reimbursement depending on when the deal closes.
The table below from filings with the SEC sets forth estimates of the amounts of payments and benefits that each of WBD’s named executive officers would receive in connection with the Merger. The amounts quantified in this section are estimates based on multiple assumptions that may or may not actually occur or be accurate as of the date referenced. Accordingly, the actual amounts, if any, that may be paid or become payable to directors and executive officers may materially differ from such estimates. All amounts are rounded to the nearest whole number.
| Name | Cash ($) |
Equity ($) |
Perquisites/ Benefits ($) |
Tax Reimbursement ($) |
Total ($) | |||||||||||||||
| David Zaslav | 34,219,178 | 517,204,781 | 44,195 | 335,368,021 | 886,836,175 | |||||||||||||||
| Gunnar Wiedenfels | 6,610,625 | 113,146,795 | 266,283 | — | 120,023,703 | |||||||||||||||
| Bruce L. Campbell | 18,805,973 | 102,676,898 | 43,347 | — | 121,526,218 | |||||||||||||||
| Jean-Briac Perrette | 18,193,151 | 123,896,922 | 41,551 | — | 142,041,624 | |||||||||||||||
| Gerhard Zeiler | 11,894,122 | 70,688,618 | — | — | 82,582,740 | |||||||||||||||
