Most Warner Bros Discovery shareholders, who voted at the organisation’s 2025 annual meeting, expressed disapproval of CEO David Zaslav’s and other top executives’ compensation packages.
At the annual stockholders on June 2, the investors rejected a non-binding “advisory” measure regarding the 2024 compensation packages for Zaslav and other named executive officers, as per an SEC filing.
Known as a “say-on-pay” vote, it allows investors to voice their approval or disapproval of executive pay.
According to Warner Bros. Discovery’s reported tallies, nearly 724.5 million shares (approximately 40 per cent) voted in favour of the executive compensation package, 1.06 billion shares (nearly 60 per cent) voted against, whereas 5.69 million shares abstained, and 307.38 million shares were broker non-votes.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s board released a statement saying, “The Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors appreciates the views of all its shareholders and takes the results of the annual advisory vote on executive compensation seriously. The Compensation Committee of the Board looks forward to continuing its regular practice of engaging in constructive dialogue with our shareholders,” according to Variety.
Zaslav’s compensation package in the year 2024 increased by 4 per cent to $51.9 million 2024, according to the organisation’s proxy statement.
The breakdown of the pay package includes: $3 million base salary, $23.1 million in stock awards, $23.9 million in bonus compensation, and $1.9 million in other compensation.
Story continues below this ad
In 2023, Zaslav’s pay package was worth $49.7 million, with an increase of 26.5 per cent from the previous year. It totalled $39.3 million in the year 2022, after he received a whopping $246.6 million in 2021.
The 2024 pay packages of other top executives of the company included:
– CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, $17 million
– Chief revenue and strategy officer Bruce Campbell, $19.8 million
– Global streaming and games CEO and president J.B. Perrette, $19.7 million
– International president Gerhard Zeiler, $14.8 million
(With inputs from Variety)
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd