Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav is selling stock worth north of $114 million, according to an SEC filing Tuesday, with the company’s sale to Paramount pending and the cash starting to flow.
The CEO filed to sell just over 4 million shares. The filing indicated that Zaslav, who has been richly showered with grants over the years, acquired the shares as part of his compensation between January of 2023 and February of 2026.
Several other top WBD execs also shed shares worth seven figures this week including CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, Chief Revenue & Strategy Officer Bruce Campbell, Chief Accounting Officer Lori Locke, President of International Gerhard Zeiler, Global Streaming President & CEO JB Perrette, Chief Legal Officer Priya Aiyar and HR chief Amy Girdwood.
The flood comes as a trading window opened for executives involved in any deal negotiations.
WBD last week scuppered a deal with Netflix and agreed to sell itself to Paramount after a week of talks and months of unsolicited offers from the David Ellison company. It deemed Par’s latest $31 dollar a share offer a superior proposal. Netflix had the right to match but declined, backing away with a $2.8 billion termination fee.
Paramount expects the merger to close in the third quarter of this year.
Zaslav, who has often been the highest paid media CEO and one of the top across industries some years, will see a windfall when WBD is sold. A filing in December detailed potential transaction-related compensation that valued his unvested equity awards at $537 million based on Paramount’s previous $30 a share offer. It would be higher at $31. He’ll also receive cash severance, a bonus, salary and benefits as part of his employment agreement with WBD if there’s a change in control at the company.
WBD will address Zaslav’s compensation in its upcoming proxy statement.
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