Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav's 2025 Pay Jumped to $165 Million, More Than Triple the Prior Year

Warner Bros. Discovery paid CEO David Zaslav $165,009,366 in total compensation for 2025, according to the company's annual proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 29. The figure was more than triple the $51,918,563 Zaslav received in 2024 — a year-over-year increase of more than $113 million driven almost entirely by a stock option grant worth nearly $110 million. The compensation disclosure sets the stage for another shareholder advisory vote on executive pay at the company's annual meeting on June 9, following a shareholder rejection of WBD's prior year compensation packages.

The Details

The 2026 DEF 14A proxy statement filed with the SEC details Zaslav's 2025 package across five components: a $3 million base salary, $22,597,744 in stock awards, $109,593,181 in option awards, $25,726,018 in non-equity incentive compensation, and $4,092,423 in other compensation, according to the filing.

The option award component — $109,593,181 — accounts for roughly two-thirds of the total figure and is the primary driver of the year-over-year increase. Variety's April 30 report on the compensation disclosure confirmed the proxy figures and described the jump as driven by nearly $110 million in stock options.

Zaslav's base salary remained at $3 million, unchanged from the prior year. The $25,726,018 in non-equity incentive plan compensation covers performance-based cash awards. The $22,597,744 in stock awards and $4,092,423 in the "other compensation" category — covering additional benefits and perquisites disclosed in the proxy — round out the package, according to the 2026 DEF 14A filing.

For context, Zaslav's 2024 total compensation of $51,918,563 was itself a substantial figure — one that WBD shareholders voted against at the 2025 annual meeting, according to Variety citing WBD SEC filings. The 2025 package of $165,009,366 exceeds that rejected 2024 figure by more than $113 million, or roughly 218 percent, according to the two proxy filings.

The WBD compensation committee offered its rationale for the 2025 package in the proxy statement. "Mr. Zaslav's strategic leadership created clear and compelling value for WBD stockholders," the committee wrote in the 2026 DEF 14A filing.

Context

The compensation disclosure comes as shareholder opposition to executive pay at Warner Bros. Discovery has become a recurring theme in its annual meeting cycle. Shareholders voted against WBD's 2024 executive compensation packages in a non-binding say-on-pay vote at the 2025 annual meeting, according to Variety citing WBD SEC filings. Say-on-pay votes are advisory and non-binding, meaning the board is not required to modify executive pay in response to a negative result. The 2025 investor vote against Zaslav's prior package did not compel any change.

Warner Bros. Discovery's compensation committee proceeded with the 2025 pay structure in the year following that shareholder rebuke. The 2025 package ultimately totaled more than three times the amount investors declined to endorse at the prior annual meeting — with the largest single component, the $109,593,181 in option awards, accounting for the bulk of the increase, according to the two proxy filings.

Separate from the annual pay figure, Variety reported that Zaslav could receive more than $550 million in merger-related exit compensation if Paramount's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closes. The proxy statement addresses the pending transaction. That potential figure is distinct from the $165,009,366 in annual compensation reported in the 2026 proxy and is not included in the compensation total. The merger and any associated payouts remain a separate matter pending the outcome of the acquisition.

What's Next

Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders will cast another advisory say-on-pay vote on Zaslav's 2025 compensation at the company's annual meeting scheduled for June 9, according to the 2026 proxy statement filed with the SEC. The vote will cover the full compensation package detailed in that filing, including the nearly $110 million in option awards that account for the bulk of the 2025 total.

The result will again be non-binding. A second consecutive shareholder rejection would represent a sustained pattern of investor pushback on executive pay at WBD, a dynamic the board would be required to address in its next proxy cycle. The Paramount acquisition process, and the separate merger-related compensation package for Zaslav that would be triggered if the deal closes, remains a distinct track with its own governance and timeline.