Warner Bros. Discovery filed its 2025 proxy statement this week, which included information about CEO David Zaslav’s compensation. In 2024, Zaslav saw a pay increase of 4%, bringing his annual pay to $51.9 million.
Variety reports that in 2023, Zaslav received a whopping 26.5% increase, which brought his annual pay that year to $49.7 million from $39.3 million in 2022. In 2021, stock-option grants brought his pay to $246.6 million.
In the filing, the company noted that both Zaslav and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels are given annual individual strategic goals, incentivizing both “to take actions that create long-term value for stockholders and provide a competitive advantage for WBD” which can impact annual compensation.
The statement says “In February 2025, the Committee also reviewed the CEO’s and CFO’s achievement of their respective strategic goals, considering the CEO’s and CFO’s self-assessments and, with respect to Mr. Wiedenfels, the input of the CEO and with respect to Mr. Zaslav, the input of the Board. With respect to the strategic goals, the Committee determined that each of Mr. Zaslav and Mr. Wiedenfels had exceeded expectations and over-delivered with respect to their respective strategic goals and approved a payout for the portion of the CEO’s 2024 cash bonus that is based on strategic metrics at 115% of target and a payout of 114% of target for the portion of the CFO’s 2024 cash bonus that is based on strategic metrics.”
Warner Bros. Discovery will hold its annual shareholder meeting on June 2. During that meeting, shareholders will look at five proposals, including one that would require shareholders to vote on executive compensation.