Products
Resources
Equilar Institute
MediaCompany
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has become the center of a high-stakes Hollywood bidding war. Last week, Netflix announced an agreement to acquire HBO Max and Warner Bros. film studio for $27.75 per share (an equity value of $72 billion). The situation quickly escalated when Paramount Skydance countered with an all-cash bid of $30 per share to acquire all WBD assets.
In the middle of it all, CEO David Zaslav faces two outcomes that would only increase the value of his existing equity. According to Equilar data cited by CNBC, Zaslav currently owns 4.2 million shares, has another 6.2 million shares set to vest in the future through previously granted stock awards and holds 20.9 million stock options with a $10.16 exercise price.
As the bidding war between Netflix and Paramount for WBD plays out, Equilar calculated Zaslav’s lifetime pay since taking the helm in 2007, along with the equity he could unlock under each deal.
So far, Zaslav has earned $310.2 million in cash, bonuses and stock sale proceeds. At Netflix’s $27.75 per share offer, his equity would be worth $554.1 million, pushing his total lifetime pay to $864.2 million. However, based on Paramount’s higher offer of $30 per share, his equity would rise to $616.2 million, increasing his lifetime pay to $926.4 million. The outcome of the Netflix and Paramount offers represents a difference of more than $60 million.
David Zaslav Lifetime Pay Values (Netflix vs. Paramount)
| Netflix | Paramount | |
|---|---|---|
| Shares Owned | $116,852,836 | $126,327,390 |
| Outstanding Stock Awards | $69,563,361 | $75,203,634 |
| Outstanding Option Awards | $367,609,470 | $414,631,716 |
| Salary | $48,134,616 | $48,134,616 |
| Bonus | $203,085,758 | $203,085,758 |
| All Other Comp | $14,581,699 | $14,581,699 |
| Stock Sold | $44,410,601 | $44,410,601 |
| Total | $864,238,341 | $926,375,414 |
Regardless of which deal ultimately prevails, Zaslav stands to benefit significantly from this bidding war.
Associate Editor at Equilar
Joyce Chen, Associate Editor at Equilar, authored this post. Courtney Yu, Director of Research, contributed data and analysis. Please contact Amit Batish, Sr. Director of Content & Communications, at abatish@equilar.com for more information on Equilar research and data analysis.
Roles
Solutions
