{"id":439143,"date":"2025-12-11T02:51:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T02:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/439143\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T02:51:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T02:51:25","slug":"david-zaslavs-future-murky-as-netflix-paramount-face-off-over-warner-bros-buy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/439143\/","title":{"rendered":"David Zaslav’s Future Murky As Netflix & Paramount Face Off Over Warner Bros Buy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tJust a few weeks ago, David Zaslav<\/a> was offered a co-CEO gig by David Ellison<\/a> in a Paramount<\/a>-owned Warner Bros<\/a> Discovery. Then Netflix swooped in and sealed an $83B deal<\/a> for WB\u2019s streaming and studio holdings before Ellison came roaring back with a $108 billion hostile tender offer for all of WBD,<\/a> possibly triggering a new bidding war.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmid fireworks over who ultimately will control the home of HBO<\/a>, Zaslav\u2019s future looks increasingly uncertain.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith a lot of bad blood and sleight of hand accusations now brewing between him and Ellison, it\u2019s unlikely the co-CEO and co-chairman role that the Paramount Skydance boss offered the Zaslav on November 24 is still in the mix as Paramount aims to unseat the giant streamer. Paramount had no comment Wednesday when contacted by Deadline.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere was a similar silence down on Sunset at Netflix<\/a>. Reps for the Ted Sarandos<\/a> and Greg Peters-led streamer did not respond to Deadline\u2019s request for comment on Zaslav\u2019s role in a NetBros.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the Netflix deal estimated to take 12 to 18 months to close, WBD will move ahead with a previously planned split of the company into Warner Bros. (streaming and studios) and Discovery Global (linear television). Zaslav will remain as WBD CEO until the split and then, also as planned, become chief executive of Warner Bros., holding that job until the Netflix acquisition is complete.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter that? <\/p>\n

\n\tSources close to the situation tell Deadline that \u201cfuture management roles\u201d for Zaslav within Netflix \u201chaven\u2019t been discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTo at least one industry player, what may or may not have been discussed is borderline irrelevant.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDavid may have overplayed his last card,\u201d a C-Suite regular told Deadline of the WBD CEO and a desire to stick around. Predicting a Zas-led caretaker regime at WBD until the deal for either bidder closes and all the regulatory boxes are checked, the source sees a flush Zaslav then retreating to his Beverly Hills estate of Robert Evans\u2019 old home, and eventually the East Coast.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe compensation packages are so excessive, even by the standards of this town,\u201d the source added of the multi-million dollar payouts and options the spotlight-loving Zaslav has had WBD board approve since the WarnerMedia and Discovery merger in 2022. \u201cMore layoffs are coming no matter who owns Warner Bros, so it\u2019s a terrible look even if the stock is up,\u201d the C-Suiter noted of Zas\u2019s payout. \u201cPlus, he (Zaslav) likes to throw his weight around, and no matter if Netflix or Paramount win in the end, no one can run a studio with someone like that.<\/p>\n

\n\tCorporate debt aside, Zaslav made over $50 million in 2024 in total compensation. Add to that, the revamped contract Zas inked earlier this year includes stock options that could exceed $425 million, and much more depending how high Paramount and Netflix are willing to go in their respective offers to win Warner Bros.<\/p>\n

\n\tSeeking to get down the debt of that 2022 merger, the last three years has seen deep job cuts at WBD, as well as a harsh stock drop. Even with a stellar box office this year with Superman, Sinners, Weapons and Minecraft, that legacy debt of around $40 billion left Zaslav and the board no choice pre-sale but to eat crow, follow the lead of Comcast and plan a corporate split for 2026. That split would have seen a Zas-run WB on one side and a CNN and a new and independent Discovery Global, housing CNN and other cable channels, to be run by WBD\u2019s current CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"David<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFrom left: Paramount\u2019s David Ellison and Netflix\u2019s Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tAs that process moved forward, Paramount made three consecutive bids for all of WBD until the company opted to open up the process to other bidders. Even while Zaslav has been widely pummeled for his pay, for his occasional tone deafness, and various strategic missteps, to his credit and shareholders\u2019 wallets, he has created a robust auction process for WBD with three bidders, Paramount, Netflix and Comcast.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn total, as outlined to some degree in a letter sent from Ellison to WBD shareholders today<\/a>, Paramount has made six offers, all rebuffed.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter Paramount went hostile once the Netflix bid had taken the golden ring, the WBD board on December 8 said it \u201cwill carefully review and consider Paramount Skydance\u2019s offer in accordance with the terms of Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s agreement with Netflix.\u201d The board promised to make its recommendation public \u201cwithin 10 business days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCalling the Ellisons\u2019 big new bid of earlier this week \u201centirely expected,\u201d<\/a> Netflix\u2019s Sarandos later on December 8 said: \u201cWe have a deal done, and we are incredibly happy with the deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWBD has another eight days to respond to Paramount\u2019s all-cash, $30-a-share offer for the entire company. <\/p>\n

\n\tRaising eyebrows in D.C. and L.A., that offer includes over $24 billion in equity funding from the Public Investment Fund (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), L\u2019imad Holding Company PJSC (Abu Dhabi), Qatar Investment Authority (Qatar) and Affinity Partners, the Saudi-backed investment fund of Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s son-in-law\u00a0Jared Kushner<\/a>. According to Paramount\u2019s SEC filings, it\u2019s all backstopped by David Ellison\u2019s father, Larry Ellison, and Paramount pinky promises the Middle East funds and Affinity won\u2019t have governance roles.<\/p>\n

\n\tLike most things in American public life nowadays, the easily flattered Trump, pal to both Larry Ellison and his son, and now Sarandos, hovers in the background of all this \u2014 with regulatory powers that could determine the victor.<\/p>\n

\n\tRegardless what Zaslav\u2019s future at post-merger WBD is, a number of well-positioned sources predict he will stick it out in Tinseltown.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Burbank-based executive, long been one of the highest paid in Hollywood, will have options.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe\u2019s going to have a lot of money, he\u2019s got a lot of strong relationships and he likes being in the mix,\u201d one studio insider said of 65-year-old Zas\u2019s next act. \u201cExecutives come and go, that\u2019s the town,\u201d he continues. \u201cMaybe he\u2019ll set up his own shop, produce, sit on boards, and philanthropy, like (David) Geffen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJill Goldsmith contributed to this report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just a few weeks ago, David Zaslav was offered a co-CEO gig by David Ellison in a Paramount-owned…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":439144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,32129,47781,69,5560,168332,4659,198868,15329,161221,67,132,68,27281,1021],"class_list":{"0":"post-439143","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-david-ellison","10":"tag-david-zaslav","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-hbo","13":"tag-john-malone","14":"tag-netflix","15":"tag-netflix-wb","16":"tag-paramount","17":"tag-ted-sarandos","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-warner-bros-discovery","22":"tag-warner-bros"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115698669540440203","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}