WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar Formalizes Plan To Exit Company Ahead Of Discovery Deal Close
deadline.comJason Kilar, the former Hulu and Amazon exec who has led WarnerMedia as CEO since May 2020, has formalized plans to exit the company on the eve of its merger with Discovery.In a memo to staff today, the exec confirmed his departure just days ahead of the expected close of the $43 billion merger.
The exact date when the combination becomes official is not known, but multiple insiders suggest it will likely be next week.Kilar’s departure had been anticipated for nearly a year.
WarnerMedia parent AT&T proposed spinning off WarnerMedia in a new entity controlled by Discovery in May 2021. A period of corporate jockeying around the time of the stealthily negotiated deal reached its peak when Kilar was featured in a lengthy profile in the Wall Street Journal, positioning him as the long-term head of the company.
Less than two days after the publication of that article, it was revealed that Discovery CEO David Zaslav would be the one running the new entity.Despite the writing on the wall, principals at AT&T, WarnerMedia or Discovery have never confirmed a specific path for Kilar and he had always demurred when asked about his plans.
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