Latest news with #DavidZaslav
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) Shareholders Reject CEO Pay Amid Stock Slump
A majority of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD, Financials) shareholders voted against the 2024 compensation package for Chief Executive David Zaslav, according to a regulatory filing issued Tuesday. The nonbinding vote reflects growing shareholder frustration as the company's stock continues to underperform. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with WBD. Shareholders rejected Zaslav's $52 million pay deal, which exceeds the 2024 compensation reported by Disney CEO Bob Iger ($41 million) and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts ($34 million). While the vote does not mandate changes, the board said it takes the results of the annual advisory vote on executive compensation seriously. Revenue and cash flow concerns have persisted across WBD's television business, prompting S&P Global to cut the company's credit rating to BB-plus last month. Shares of WBD have fallen nearly 60% since the merger that formed the company in 2022. At the time of the merger, WBD reported $55 billion in debt, which had declined to $38 billion as of May, according to the company. Some analysts expect Warner Bros Discovery may consider spinning off its studio and streaming businesses as it works to regain investor confidence. See insider trades for WBD. Explore Peter Lynch chart. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Mutiny at CNN's parent company as fat cat CEO who tore up network is shunned by shareholders
Shareholders of CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery voted to reject CEO David Zaslav's eye-popping $52million pay package at the company's annual meeting this week. The media giant disclosed Tuesday in regulatory filing that nearly 60 percent of its shareholders voted to reject the package, which included $3million in salary, $23.1million in stock, $23.9million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $1.92million for things like a car allowance and personal security. Warner Bros. Discovery's board of directors had recommended that shareholders vote the other way, but the appeal didn't sway them. The votes comes after sweeping layoffs at both CNN and Warner Bros. Discovery during Zaslav's tenure. The CEO and his chief financial officer, Gunnar Wiedenfels, have managed to reduce Warner Bros. Discovery's $55billion debt by some $21 billion, while asking employees to make sacrifices over the past three years. Meanwhile, the median Warner Bros. Discovery staffer makes an average annual total compensation of $130,316 - about one four-hundredth what Zaslav was set to earn. The decision does not necessarily mean Warner Bros. Discovery will scale back his pay, but it could light a fire under those calling the shots. Netflix, for instance, decided to cap its co-CEOs base salaries after a similar vote in 2023. If Warner Bros. Discovery follows suit, Zaslav could be subject to a cap as well. The company said in a statement that it was taking the development 'seriously,' after more than 1billion shareholders voted to reject the package. '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,' it read. 'The Compensation Committee of the Board looks forward to continuing its regular practice of engaging in constructive dialogue with our shareholders.' The the statement came a year after Zaslav saw his compensation swell by nearly five percent from 2023 to 2024. Other execs' pay packages - including Wiedenfels' - were also rejected, five months after CNN laid off 200 workers from its struggling TV division. At the time, a CNN source told the Daily Mail that the division had become 'bloated' and overstaffed with people who do the bare minimum, following Warner Bros. massive merger with Discovery three years ago. Since then, Zaslav and Wiedenfels have engaged in a cost-cutting campaign that's done little to help the conglomerate's share price, which is down 7 percent year to date. The move could see CNN spearhead a new, cable-centering company as Zaslav's eyes and ears at the network, CEO Mark Thompson, continues to preach the idea of a more digital future Last month, CNBC reported that Warner Bros. Discovery is mulling a separation of its linear networks from its studio and streaming assets, much like Comcast has done with MSNBC and CNBC. The move could see CNN spearhead a new, cable-centering company as Zaslav's eyes and ears at the network, CEO Mark Thompson, continues to preach the idea of a more digital future. The talks, first reported by CNBC, come after a dip in share price from the conglomerate and a quarterly review that fell short of estimates. The report showed revenue down 1 percent from the same span last year and net income down 62 percent CNBC's David Faber reported that the talks came after a dip in share price from the conglomerate that caused a stir from investors. Just months ago, Zaslav reportedly dismissed the move as a bad idea. That was before a quarterly review that fell short of estimates. Earlier this year, NBC parent Comcast announced it would spin off most of its cable networks into a separate company after years of hindrance on its own share price. If WBD does, too, properties like CNN, TNT, and TBS will no longer fall under its jurisdiction. The new, yet-to-be announced firm would also be ripe for acquisition.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
CEO Pay 2024: Salaries of Disney's Iger, WBD's Zaslav, Netflix Chiefs
The entertainment business has seen better days. More from Variety Warner Bros. Discovery Shareholders Vote Against CEO David Zaslav's $52 Million Pay Package in a Symbolic Rebuke 'Adolescence' Beats 'Stranger Things 4' to Become Netflix's No. 2 Most-Watched English-Language Series Ever YouTube Disputes Disney Lawsuit's Claims Over Justin Connolly Hiring, Alleges Disney Is Using Exec as 'Pawn' in License Talks Film and TV production in the U.S. rose 18% last year but lagged 2022 levels, according to ProPro, which tracks studio productions. Theatrical ticket sales fell 3.3% in 2024 and remain nearly 25% down from pre-pandemic levels. Media conglomerates are spinning off cable channels at a dizzying rate, an acknowledgment of the damage that streaming has done to that cash cow. And tech giants like Amazon and Apple, which elbowed into the content business a few years ago, have found that it's much harder to make a show that people care about than it is to sell them paper towels and iPhones. Cutbacks and layoffs are the order of the day. Yet for some reason the spirit of economizing didn't extend to the executive suites. Seven of the 10 CEOs and media barons whose pay packages we examine as part of our annual survey of compensation got raises. And in most cases, the bumps were double-digit ones even though their results were often lackluster at best. 'When the stock is up, CEOs always take credit, but when it plunges, they rarely take responsibility,' says Charles Elson of the University of Delaware's John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance. 'There should be more alignment between pay packages and performance so when there's a bad year, the CEOs take more of a hit.' To be fair, some of these executives will end up banking far less than what's reported. That's because the stock awards and options represent fair value as of the grant date and do not reflect actual dollar amounts received by executives. If the company's value shrinks, so does their compensation. Of course, if it increases, their windfall could be even greater than it initially appeared in public filings. The pay packages may be largely undiminished, but our list of top executives shrank. Paramount Global hoped to have finalized its sale to Skydance Media by now, but the Trump administration and the president's lawsuit against '60 Minutes' appears to be holding up regulatory approval. Still, Bob Bakish, who left Paramount amid the company's deal talks with Skydance, has already profited handsomely, earning $87 million last year, which includes $69.3 million in severance. Then there's Endeavor, which went private again after four years as a publicly traded company. Ari Emanuel, the brash agent who led the company's whipsaw transformation, got a $173.8 million cash payout from the equity he converted to cash as part of the go-private deal (while also rolling his ownership interests with a total value of $290.3 million into the newly private company, Endeavor Group Holdings). Paramount Global will likely soon have company, as most industry observers expect that other media companies are looking for buyers (speculation often centers on Warner Bros. Discovery, which has endured two traumatic mergers over the past seven years and formally separated its TV business from its studio and streaming operations). Experts like Elson say companies often have good reasons for selling themselves or acquiring each other. But he also notes that there's often a strong financial incentive for the people at the top to make these kinds of deals. 'The synergies that come with a merger can be quite helpful, but you have to make sure the cost savings are really there,' he says. 'Sometimes these deals are more ego driven and turn out to be disasters.' Historically, media chieftains are far better compensated than leaders in other industries. Much of that has to do with the ownership structure of entertainment conglomerates such as Comcast and Fox, which have dual-class stock. That gives the families behind them much tighter control, enabling them to reward themselves without risking much interference from average shareholders. This, in turn, skews the pay packages of media companies like Disney and Netflix, which aren't run by families but justify rewarding their executives with big bonuses and options because they are part of the same peer group. It helps that the boards of these companies are often loaded with sympathetic allies. 'Board members themselves are well paid,' says Rosanna Landis Weaver of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. 'It's a very cushy gig. And no board member ever got asked to leave for saying, 'Let's pay the CEO more.'' Running a media company requires a very particular set of skills. A successful CEO must be the public face of a corporation — telegenic, amiable, able to work a room — and also serve as an ambassador to Wall Street at a time when investors have grown more skeptical about the long-term health of the entertainment business. Just look how difficult it was for Bob Chapek, the short-lived CEO of Disney, whose tenure was so rocky that the company reenlisted Bob Iger, the man he succeeded, as his replacement. But if media conglomerates rationalize giving their leaders extravagant pay packages because they're worried that another company is going to poach them or that they will leave of their own volition, they should probably think again. 'The thing about the media business is that these jobs are fun,' says David L. Yermack, professor of finance at NYU. 'You get to have a lot of influence on society, and shaping culture is interesting work. Running a coal mine or being in the utilities business isn't anywhere near as interesting.'Bob Iger, CEO2024 compensation: $41.4M/+31%Median employee compensation: $55,111Iger pay ratio to median employee: 746 How do you determine a job well done? When it came to Iger's $7.2 million bonus, Disney's board gave him credit for releasing 'Deadpool & Wolverine,' which the family-friendly brand enthused was 'the highest grossing R-rated film ever,' as well as for presiding over the best-attended D23 event in history and leading a company dubbed one of America's most trusted by no less an authority than Newsweek. It's hardly an empirical assessment, but Iger did have a successful 2024, one that saw the studio topping its rivals at the box office and releasing streaming hits like 'Shōgun.' For Iger's efforts, his relatively modest $1 million salary got augmented by more than $30 million in stock options and awards, as well as $523,685 in personal air travel and $1.4 million in security. It pays to rule the Magic Sarandos, Co-CEO2024 compensation: $61.9M/+24.3% Greg Peters, Co-CEO2024 compensation: $60.3M/+50.2% Median employee compensation: $215,503Sarandos/Peters pay ratio to median employee: 287/280 Bingeing has been very good to Netflix's co-leaders. Last year, the company targeted $40 million in total compensation apiece. Both got more than 50% of that, thanks to the streamer's stellar performance. The company ended 2024 with 301.6 million subscribers (up 16%) and generated operating income of more than $10 billion. The stock soared 89% for the year, dispelling any doubts about the unusual two-in-a-box leadership structure. For 2024, Sarandos and Peters each received a $12 million cash bonus plus stock valued at $42.7 million, with Netflix's compensation committee citing 'our outstanding relative stock price performance compared to constituents of the S&P 500.' Meanwhile, co-founder and chairman Reed Hastings' pay package dropped to $1.75 million last year (from $11.3 million in 2023). Don't pass the hat for Hastings — he owned 4.23 million Netflix shares as of early Zaslav, CEO and president2024 compensation: $51.9M/+4.4%Median employee compensation: $130,316Zaslav pay ratio to median employee: 398 Few would point to the marriage of Warner Bros. and Discovery and declare it a glittering success. The media conglomerate's market cap hovers at $22 billion, roughly half of where it stood in 2022 when the companies joined forces. Like many entertainment giants, Warner Bros. Discovery has struggled to manage the contraction of the theatrical movie business and the collapse of cable, its primary source of revenue. Yet Zaslav, the main architect of the merger, is still rewarded handsomely. His $51.9 million compensation package includes a $23.9 million bonus (more than 100% of the target amount), as well as a $3 million base salary, another $23 million in stock awards, a $17,446 car allowance and 250 hours of personal flight time each year on the corporate Roberts, CEO and chairman2024 compensation: $33.9M/-4.5% Michael Cavanagh, President2024 compensation: $28.25M/-4.5% Median employee compensation: $89,237Roberts pay ratio to median employee: 380 Roberts and chief lieutenant Cavanagh got big bonuses last year — just not as fat as they were in 2023. Comcast grew on the top and bottom lines in 2024, while free cash flow (a component used to determine executive compensation) declined 3.8% to $12.5 billion. The board's compensation committee determined that the company's top execs were entitled to cash bonuses equivalent to 109% of target. But both Roberts and Cavanagh 'requested that they not receive more than 100% of their target bonuses,' according to Comcast's proxy filing, settling for $7.5 million. In discussing their performance, the company cited the plan led by the pair to spin off NBCUniversal's cable TV networks (excluding Bravo) and complementary digital assets. The new public company, Versant, is set to separate from its parent by the end of Murdoch, CEO and executive chair2024 compensation: $23.8M/+9.3% Rupert Murdoch, Chairman emeritus2024 compensation: $21.2M/-7.7% Median employee compensation: $89,068Lachlan Murdoch pay ratio to median employee: 267 Rupert Murdoch, 94, officially retired in November 2023. But the TV news, sports and entertainment company he built continued to pay him generously. As chairman emeritus, he had a compensation package totaling $21.2 million for the fiscal year ended June 2024, which included $8.6 million worth of stock and options and a $2.3 million bonus 'following 71 years of service to the company,' per Fox Corp.'s annual proxy filing. Eldest son Lachlan Murdoch, who now runs the media empire, saw his pay climb 9.3% largely thanks to a $6 million cash bonus (versus $4.5 million in fiscal 2023) based on 'quantitative' and 'qualitative' performance factors evaluated by the board. 'Fox once again delivered strong operational and financial results in fiscal 2024,' the company said in its proxy filing, including Fox News ending the period as the No. 1 cable network among total viewers for the eighth straight Cook, CEO2024 compensation: $74.6M/+18%Median employee compensation: $114,738Cook pay ratio to median employee: 650 After docking Cook's stock incentives in 2023, Apple determined that it wasn't paying him enough. Based on an analysis of CEO compensation at 'peer companies' including Amazon, Disney and Netflix, the tech giant boosted the target value of Cook's equity award for fiscal 2024 from $40 million to $50 million. Cook's stock grants were calculated to be worth $58 million. To be sure, the tech giant kept minting money: Apple revenue hit a record $391 billion (up 2%) for the fiscal year ended September 2024, while net income declined 3% to (only!) $93.7 billion. Of note: Apple's services biz, which includes the App Store and Apple TV+, generated $96 billion for the year, up nearly 13%. In justifying Cook's enlarged stock grant, the board's compensation committee cited 'the impact his leadership has on the company's short-term and long-term success.'Andy Jassy, CEO2024 compensation: $1.6M/+17.6%Median employee compensation: $37,181Jassy pay ratio to median employee: 43 Don't be fooled: Jassy earns more for running the e-commerce mega-company than the number listed for his 2024 compensation on Amazon's proxy statement. As reported under SEC rules, the CEO was paid $1.6 million last year. But the bulk of Jassy's remuneration is in stock awards that vest over several years (which Amazon reported as compensation for 2021). According to Amazon, Jassy's 2024 'realized compensation' increased by 37%, to $40.1 million, due to the company's stock price gains. That came after his realized comp decreased by 12% in 2023. In his April 10 annual letter to shareholders, Jassy touted the company's growing entertainment lineup, including originals like 'Reacher,' 'Fallout,' 'The Boys' and 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' and live sports like the NFL's 'Thursday Night Football' — with the NBA and Nascar coming later this year. Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in June 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Warner Bros. Discovery Shareholders Vote Against CEO David Zaslav's $52 Million Pay Package in a Symbolic Rebuke
The majority of Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders who voted at the company's 2025 annual meeting evidently believe CEO David Zaslav and other top execs are earning too much. At WBD's annual stockholders meeting held June 2, investors voted down a non-binding 'advisory' measure to approve the 2024 compensation packages of Zaslav and the company's other named executive officers, according to an SEC filing. Such a measure is referred to as a 'say-on-pay' vote, designed to give shareholders a voice in expressing their approval — or disapproval — of exec compensation. More from Variety David Leavy, CNN's Chief Operating Officer, Will Return to Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, U-Next Strike Global Distribution Deal for Japanese Dramas (EXCLUSIVE) Warner Bros. Discovery's Credit Rating Cut to Junk Status by S&P, Citing Weak Linear TV Outlook Per the WBD-reported tallies, there were 724.5 million shares voted 'for' the executive compensation package advisory and 1.06 billion shares voted 'against' the measure — meaning almost 60% of the votes cast were against the pay packages. In addition, there were 5.69 million shares that did not vote (abstentions) and 307.38 million broker non-votes. In a statement to Variety, Warner Bros. Discovery's board said: '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.' For 2024, Zaslav's pay package rose 4% to $51.9 million, according to the company's latest proxy statement. His base salary was $3 million and he received stock awards worth $23.1 million, bonus compensation of $23.9 million and 'all other' compensation of $1.9 million. Zaslav had a 2023 pay package worth $49.7 million, up 26.5% from the year prior. His compensation totaled $39.3 million in 2022, after he received an astonishing $246.6 million (which included $203 million in stock option grants) in 2021. The 2024 pay packages for Warner Bros. Discovery's other top executives were: CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, $17 million (flat with his 2023 compensation); 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%); and international president Gerhard Zeiler, $14.8 million (up more than 11%). SEE ALSO: Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in June 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Warner Bros. Discovery Makes Layoffs Across Cable TV Group
Warner Bros. Discovery, as its cable TV business continues to shrink and viewership falls, has made targeted job cuts across its linear networks. The media conglomerate's linear TV business includes TNT, TBS, CNN, Food Network, Discovery, TLC, Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies. The layoffs affect well under 100 employees, a source familiar with the situation told Variety. The source added that no particular location or network was impacted more than others. The cuts — like those at other pay-TV networks affected by cord-cutting declines — are aimed at WBD's ongoing goal of operating more efficiently. More from Variety Warner Bros. Discovery Shareholders Vote Against CEO David Zaslav's $52 Million Pay Package in a Symbolic Rebuke David Leavy, CNN's Chief Operating Officer, Will Return to Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, U-Next Strike Global Distribution Deal for Japanese Dramas (EXCLUSIVE) For the first quarter of 2025, revenue in the company's linear TV networks business fell 7%, to $4.7 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery said ad revenue fell 12%, while distribution revenue was off by 9%. The company cited declines in audiences at its networks for the downturns. In Q1, adjusted operating income of the cable TV group fell 15%, to $1.79 billion. The layoffs in WBD's cable group come after Disney cuts its headcount by several hundred employees this week, affecting staffers in TV, film and corporate finance. Last month, S&P Global Ratings cut Warner Bros. Discovery's credit rating to junk status based on its lowered earnings forecast for 2025-26 primarily due to the 'continued revenue and cash flow declines at its linear TV operations,' which the ratings firm said will offset growth in the company's streaming and studio segments. In Q1, Warner Bros. Discovery said, it completed the process of reorganizing the company into two divisions: one comprising its streaming business (plus HBO) and production studios, and the other composed of the rest of its cable TV portfolio. The reorg will 'create opportunities as we evaluate all avenues to deliver significant shareholder value,' CEO David Zaslav said in originally announcing the separation last December. Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in June 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
