Mar. 20 at 4:51 PM
David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, could receive over
$800M from the Paramount-Skydance deal, including about
$500M in share awards,
$115M in vested stock, and
$34M in cash. Up to
$335M could cover the “golden parachute” excise tax, originally meant to limit CEO payouts when companies change control. Paramount will reimburse this tax, which decreases over time and ends if the deal closes in 2027, with the board noting Zaslav would otherwise be disadvantaged compared to a prior Netflix deal. Without the tax, his payout is around $ 667M. Experts say golden parachutes now incentivize CEOs to sell companies for maximum reward, often making them “platinum” lucrative.
$WBD $PSKY