Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s Pay Topped $39 Million in 2022, Down From Massive Haul a Year Earlier
variety.comJennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav’s pay package topped $39 million in 2022, down considerably from the staggering figure he hit in the year prior, thanks to a massive $203 million stock option.
In a Wednesday Securities and Exchange Commission filing, WBD stated that president and CEO Zaslav’s exec comp package totaled $39.3 million last year. $3.1 million of that sum was his salary, with the rest being stock awards ($12 million), stock option awards ($1.4 million), non-equity incentive plan comp ($21.8 million) and “all other” compensation ($925,489).
While Zaslav’s pay is down considerably from 2021, it’s important to note the reason behind this major dip is an unprecedented $203 million stock option grant that inflated his total 2021 compensation package to a staggering $246.6 million. (To give you a more reasonable idea of what Zaslav’s pay has been in recent years, his 2020 haul was a mere $37.7 million.) That stock option grant — which Zaslav will not see any liquidity from for years, and only in success — came just ahead of Zaslav taking over a much larger company, as the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery was nearing completion in April 2022.
In 2021, Zaslav received another $13.1 million in stock awards, in addition to $22 million in other compensation, on top of a $4.4 million bonus.
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