Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders in a symbolic vote reject David Zaslav's $51.9 million pay package
Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery during a “Say on Pay” vote expressed what they think about the pay packages of top executives of the company, voting againts them.
Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery gave a thumbs down to compensation packages of CEO David Zaslav and other top executives of the company. It happened at the WBD's latest meeting, which took place on June 2, 2025.
During that 2025’s annual meeting, a “Say on Pay” vote was held. Through it, shareholders were able to express their opinions on the compensation of the company's execs. It was advisory and non-binding, however, it signaled what Warner Bros. Discovery investors think and the majority of shares voted “against” pay packages (via Variety).
Moreover, although it is only symbolic, it doesn’t mean that it will be without impact. In the past, other companies have made significant changes to its executive compensation in the face of shareholder rejection of pay packages. One example is Netflix in 2023.
Compensation packages for David Zaslav grew by 4% in 2024, bringing the amount to $51.9 million according to the company's latest proxy statement. The CEO's base salary was $3 million, stock awards were worth $23.1 million, bonus pay was $23.9 million and other compensations were $1.9 million. A year earlier, Zaslav received a pay package worth $49.7 million, which was 26.5% higher than in 2022.
However, not only the CEO's compensation for 2024 was addressed, but also that of other Warner Bros Discovery top executives, whose pay packages were: CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels $15 million (unchanged from 2023), chief revenue and strategy officer Bruce Campbell $19.8 million (up 8%), global streaming and games CEO and president J.B. Perrette $19.7 million (down 2%), international president Gerhard Zeiler $14.8 million (up more than 11%).
During Monday's vote, 724,453,004 shares voted “for” the compensation packages, while 1,063,214,128 shares voted “against.”
The board of directors of Warner Bros. Discovery provided Variety with a statement on the matter, which you can read below.
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.