Warner Bros. Discovery has changed the pay package of CEO David Zaslav to ensure he retains his stock options even if the company is sold, as the entertainment company considers various offers and restructuring options.
Zaslav has agreed to changes to his tenure and non-qualified stock option agreements, extending his agreement to December 2030 if there is a "change in control" but excluding any sale of its Discovery Global television business or all or substantially all of its assets.
This comes as the company reportedly assesses offers from Paramount Skydance for the whole company and from Netflix and Comcast for its studios and streaming operations, at the same time as it also considers a separation of its businesses.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Warner Bros. Discovery said it was clarifying that Zaslav’s employment agreement applied in the event of a ‘reverse spinoff’ before 31 December 2026, in which the Discovery Global television networks and entertainment, sports and news brands, including CNN become a separate company.
This would leave Warner Bros as the remaining company with its film studio and streaming businesses.
originally, Warner Bros was to be spun off as an independent company with Discovery Global as the remaining entity, but the strategic review process changed it to considering a deal enabling a merger of Warner Bros. with a third-party acquirer alongside a spin-off of Discovery Global to shareholders.
