David Zaslav is making a lot of money from Paramount Skydance’s merger with Warner Bros Discovery – and so are loads of other people who have been working for him, On The Money has discovered.
Zaslav’s huge payout as CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery was roundly attacked in the Hollywood ecosystem. WBD got off to a gradual begin under his watch, yet he was paid tens of millions. What was left out, however, is that most came via stock choices when shares were trading at $7 and could be exercised at $10.
Now that the deal is full at $31 a share ($81 billion in equity valuation), Zas will stroll away with around $1 billion all-in, I am advised. But – and this is an important but – he made sure that the wealth impact of the deal more than trickled down through WBD, and not just among senior executives as is often the case in such transactions.
Now that the deal is full at $31 a share ($81 billion in equity valuation), David Zaslav will stroll away with around $1 billion all-in. But – and this is an important but – he made sure that the wealth impact of the deal more than trickled down through WBD Jack Forbes / NY Post Design
To begin, about a dozen people who work for him are leaving with at least $40 million each (and some multiples of that). Credit the truth that through his 4 years of working the company he pushed for an possession tradition. Nearly two-thirds of the company’s 30,000 workers took some of their comp in shares when it was trading close to a penny stock.
From what I perceive, 500 workers now are sitting on over $1 million each from the deal. About 1,000 workers got appreciated stock value $500,000 apiece.
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Yes, you will learn from the leftist Hollywood group and its media cohorts about Zas attaining billionaire standing as if it’s a scarlet letter. You will learn less about the assistants who are sitting on sizable nest eggs because that would show one very important part of the capitalist system — the so-called mergers and acquisitions business — truly can work for the little guys, too.
What is also missed in capitalism is that there are no ensures for success, and you can say WBD was among the least assured success tales in current merger historical past. Zas took over formally in 2022 after working Discovery Inc., — recognized largely for the Food Network and some specialty cable channels, and merging it with Warner Media — the home of HBO, CNN and the famed Warner Bros. studio – after it was spun off from AT&T.
From what I perceive, 500 workers now are sitting on over $1 million each from the deal. About 1,000 workers got appreciated stock value $500,000 apiece. Christopher Sadowski
Media is a robust business. Warner itself has been altering palms for years despite its marquee manufacturers because managers couldn’t make the numbers work.
The telecom guys didn’t do any higher than the media vets at working the show, and primarily based on the initial headlines, neither did Zas. The former veteran NBCU exec turned a punching bag in Hollywood over what he wouldn’t or couldn’t do, like refusing to over pay for the rights to NBA video games. Throw in killing “Bat Girl” in post manufacturing and the branding disaster of HBO’s streaming service before finally settling on HBO Max, and you know why his stock hovered in the single digits.
But behind the scenes, however, Zas was righting the ship with value cutting and a sharp focus on higher content material. He figured out how to make HMO Max more and more profitable.
Behind the scenes, Zas was righting the ship with value cutting and a sharp focus on higher content material. He figured out how to make HMO Max more and more profitable. AFP via Getty Images
We at On The Money were first to sense that Zas’s recreation plan was paying off. Last August, nicely before the bidding warfare for WBD started, we famous how shares of Warner Bros. Discovery were up more than 53% over the earlier 12 months.
The studio was beginning to churn out hits and industrial success. He had unveiled plans to break up the company, cleaving its coveted studio and streaming business from the slower growth yet profitable cable properties. “The move lets Zas transfer some of his debt to a company that has better cash flow while he rebuilds the studio, or probably sells it,” as I reported at the time.
About six weeks later, suitors started lining up. Paramount Skydance run by indie producer David Ellison, his dad, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and the savvy media sorts at RedBird Capital led by Gerry Cardinale were first out of the gate, offering Zas $16 a share.
Paramount Skydance closed its $81 billion acquisition of WBD this week and renamed the mixed company Skydance. REUTERS
We were first to report he needed around $30 a share. The media world scoffed – that is, until Zas created a high-stakes bidding warfare among a number of media behemoths that finally narrowed down to Netflix vs Paramount Skydance. Suddenly his $30 a share boast didn’t appear so loopy. Ellison & Co. upped their bid to $31, knocking Netflix out and securing victory in February.
The street to this week’s closing wasn’t easy. A state AG regulatory problem over nonsensical antitrust issues delayed the deal from closing until cooler heads prevailed.
One particular person in the deal who stayed steady through it all, I am advised, is Zas and his perception that the deal would ultimately be authorized. Yes, it made him a billionaire, and made heaps of people who labored for him wealthy as nicely.
So please – don’t believe everything you’ve heard about this deal, whether it’s from a lefty California politician or a Hollywood actor. America’s not all dangerous.
