Warner Bros. Discovery modifies David Zaslav’s employment contract — again

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Warner Bros. Discovery has changed CEO David Zaslav’s contract again this year, this time in anticipation of splitting the company into separate parts.

Warner Bros. Discovery announced some changes this month in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. This announcement came a week before the deadline for initial offers in the company’s auction. Experts predict that Paramount, Comcast, and Netflix will all submit bids for Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes popular networks like HBO, CNN, and Food Network, as well as the famous Warner Bros. film and television studios.

Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment.

The process began in September when David Ellison’s Paramount made an unexpected offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. This came just a month after Ellison and RedBird Capital Partners completed their $8 billion acquisition of Paramount from the Redstone family. Since then, Paramount has made at least three offers, but the Warner Bros. Discovery board consistently turned them down, considering the amounts offered too low.

Paramount recently offered to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $23.50 a share, which would result in a total company value of around $58 billion.

Before the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery was finalized, there was a lot of discussion about the company’s future. This led David Zaslav and the Warner Bros. board to update his employment contract on November 7th. The revision ensured Zaslav would receive the same financial benefits, no matter how the company ultimately restructured its various businesses.

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Comcast President Mike Cavanagh suggested the company is open to acquiring businesses in its industry, but emphasized they’ll be very selective. He told analysts they should anticipate Comcast evaluating potential deals, but only those that meet a high standard will be considered.

His contract was updated earlier to detail how he would be paid and rewarded if Warner Bros. and HBO Max became separate companies, as Warner had announced plans to do in June. At that time, David Zaslav intended to continue leading both the studio and the streaming service, which would be renamed Warner Bros. to honor the company’s long history in filmmaking.

The company decided to keep its twenty-four cable channels—like CNN, TNT, Animal Planet, and TLC—and rebranded itself as Discovery Global.

The company is still moving forward with splitting into two businesses. It now intends to separate its cable networks, Discovery Global, while retaining its studios, HBO, and the HBO Max streaming service as the main, continuing company, which will be known as Warner Bros.

According to the document, if the company separates by keeping Warner Bros. and spinning off Discovery Global—a process called a ‘Reverse Spinoff’—it will be handled the same way as a traditional spinoff regarding the agreements with Zaslav.

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After years of hard work to reach a leadership position, Zaslav is determined to show everyone that he can revitalize the company. He’s focused on reversing three difficult years marked by financial struggles and significant cost reductions aimed at paying down a large debt.

The company originally planned to finish the split by December 31, 2026. However, a competitive auction process might delay the completion, pushing the final date back.

David Zaslav’s employment contract has been extended to December 2030, giving him an additional three years beyond its original expiration date of December 2027.

According to a recent filing, this extension aims to keep Mr. Zaslav in charge of WBD for the same length of time he was originally contracted to lead Warner Bros. after the company split.

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After 96 days as head of Paramount, David Ellison announced a positive financial forecast for the coming year, alongside plans to reduce the workforce by another 1,600 employees.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that initial, non-binding offers for the company are expected by November 20th.

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2025-11-14 05:01