The revised numbers are out, and they’re big. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is set to receive payments and benefits valued at $886.8 million at the close of the company’s planned sale to Paramount Skydance.
An SEC filing today lays out the numbers based on the $31 a share cash deal and the severance agreement included in the chief executive’s current employment contract.
The bundle is composed of $34.2 million in a cash severance payment; equity valued at $517.2 million, reflecting the aggregate cash value of unvested WBD options, unvested WBD RSUs and unvested WBD PRSUs (restricted stock units and performance restricted stock units); perquisites of $44.2 million; and a tax reimbursement of $334 million.
The filing said the estimates are “based on multiple assumptions that may or may not actually occur or be accurate” and actual amounts may differ. For instance, the award could be larger if there is a so-called “ticking” consideration paid. That is a daily fee Paramount agreed to pay to sweeten the deal for WBD shareholders that is equal to $0.25 per share per quarter beginning after September 30, 2026.
Several weeks ago Zaslav sold stock worth north of $114 million.
Paramount has said it expects the deal to close in the third quarter.
Warner has still to set the date of a special meeting where stockholders will vote on the the merger. But the extensive filing today explained the genesis of the transaction that saw WBD terminate a previous deal to sell its studios and streaming assets to Netflix. David Ellison’s Paramount, which had been aggressively pursing WBD since last fall, quickly paid the $2.8 billion breakup fee.
More to come