David Zaslav, former president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, will receive approximately $606.1 million from his equity holdings following Paramount's acquisition completion on October 6. According to a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Zaslav's proceeds include $381.7 million from stock options, which are subject to withholding taxes, plus his overall proceeds subject to applicable capital gains taxes. However, 14.98 million of his stock options became worthless following the merger because their exercise prices exceeded Paramount's acquisition price of $31.0167 per share. In addition to the merger proceeds, Zaslav has sold nearly $200 million worth of Warner Bros. Discovery stock since the acquisition agreement was reached in February. The payout reflects Zaslav's tenure at the company he helped create by merging WarnerMedia and Discovery, with the iconic Warner Bros. water tower in Burbank repainted with the words 'A Skydance Corporation' to reflect the new corporate identity.
Paramount Skydance completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery on Tuesday (October 6), ending a year-long bidding war that began when WBD announced plans to split into two companies in June 2025. According to Business Standard, the deal values WBD at about $81 billion in equity terms and roughly $110 billion including debt, creating Skydance Corporation (SKYD). The transaction closed after Paramount raised its offer from $19 per share in September 2025 to $31 per share by February 2026, ultimately surpassing Netflix's $27.75 per share offer. WBD shareholders received $31.01666668 per share, with the combined company beginning trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker 'SKYD'.
Several senior executives are departing Warner Bros. Discovery following the takeover, including Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels; Bruce Campbell, chief revenue and strategy officer; Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, co-chairs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group; and Scott Miller, president of networks and streaming distribution. Other executives receiving substantial payouts include Wiedenfels, Campbell, Gerhard Zeiler, WBD's former head of international operations, and JB Perrette, the company's former head of streaming and games. Perrette has joined David Ellison's Skydance as co-chair and chief business officer of its television and direct-to-consumer streaming divisions, while Zeiler is pursuing a possible political career in Austria. At Warner Bros. Discovery's annual shareholder meeting in June, a majority of shareholders voted against the proposed golden-parachute packages for Zaslav and other named executives, as well as their 2025 compensation plans.
The purchase rests on $47 billion of equity backed by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners, plus debt commitments of $54 billion from Bank of America, Citigroup and Apollo. Paramount Skydance has since priced $41.4 billion of senior secured notes across first-lien, second-lien and euro-denominated tranches, along with incremental term loans. The debt load is several times the company's equity market value of about $10.8 billion. Under Zaslav's leadership, Warner Bros. Discovery reduced its gross debt from approximately $53 billion in mid-2022 to $33.1 billion as of June 2026, with the debt now assumed by the newly formed Skydance. The company also improved its operating performance, generating an EBITDA profit of $1.4 billion in 2025 compared to a pro forma loss of approximately $2.1 billion in EBITDA for full-year 2022.
The resulting company, now known as Skydance, reshapes the media landscape by combining Paramount and HBO Max streaming platforms with plans to unify them into a single service over time. As reported by Associated Press, David Ellison has suggested HBO could maintain some independence while expanding reach to broader audiences. Paramount and Warner's Discovery streamer join Paramount+, Pluto TV and BET to create a combined streaming presence that accounts for roughly 14% of the U.S. streaming market, comparable to Disney but still behind Amazon Prime at 17% and Netflix at 19%. The deal pairs movie franchises like Mission: Impossible with Lord of the Rings, television hits from I Love Lucy to Friends, and personalities ranging from Guy Fieri to RuPaul.
