WBD shareholders vote no on David Zaslav’s $51.9M pay package
WBD shareholders vote no on David Zaslav’s $51.9M pay package
The non-binding vote shows that shareholders aren’t too eager to fork over $51.9 million to the embattled CEO.
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have delivered a harsh, albeit non-binding, rebuke of company CEO David Zaslav. An SEC filing has revealed that at the WBD annual meeting, shareholders voted no on Zaslav’s executive pay package, which comes with a price tag of $51.9 million. This “say-on-pay” vote has no technical weight in terms of WBD’s finances, but such a move can have a massive impact on how the company’s board makes decisions on personnel and their pay.
Key Details:
- Still stings: While the vote is non-binding, it is nevertheless considered a significant message.
- Not so rosy: WBD’s stock price has plummeted, and its company was recently downgraded to junk status.
- Unpopular decisions: Zaslav has helped turn Max into a profitable streamer, but has made many decisions that have met with disapproval in his tenure.
The SEC filing showed that 59% of shareholders who cast ballots said no to the company’s pay plans, including Zaslav’s package. Generally, any vote showing less than 70% approval for an executive’s pay is notable. The vote is non-binding, which means that Zaslav will get his check regardless of the outcome. Nevertheless, the symbolic rebuke of the CEO and other executives by shareholders is significant, and such votes at other companies have led to pledges of substantial changes in operation.
Zaslav first took over as CEO of WBD in 2022, when WarnerMedia first merged with Discovery. In his time in the top office, WBD has made several decisions that rankled both creatives and the audience at large. He tried to play hardball with the NBA leading up to contract negotiations by saying that WBD didn't “have to have” the NBA's rights, and despite a lawsuit to try to keep those rights, ultimately, the league left TNT after over 35 years.
Zaslav also came under fire from creatives at several points during his tenure, as cost-cutting directives from the CEO led to content removals and project cancellations, including some that had already been finished. The company’s stock price has taken a nosedive in recent years, and in May, WBD was downgraded to junk bond status by Standard & Poor’s.
In his defense, Zaslav has helped to turn Max into a profitable streaming service, but is also linked to the decision to drop — and then later restore — the HBO branding from the streamer’s name. His run as CEO at WBD has been dotted with controversy, and the rejection of his pay package in a symbolic vote by shareholders is just the latest kerfuffle in a stormy period of Zaslav’s leadership.
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