Warner Bros CEO David Zaslav Executive Pay Rejected by Shareholders

Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted to reject the 2024 compensation packages of its high executives, together with CEO David Zaslav.

WBD held its annual assembly Monday, and shareholders voted down a “Say on Pay” vote by a margin of 1,063,214,128 votes to 724,453,004 votes. Zaslav’s 2024 compensation bundle rose to $51.9 million.

The vote is symbolic in nature, because the vote is nonbinding, nonetheless different firms within the media and leisure house have adjusted their compensation plans within the wake of shareholder rejection of pay packages. Netflix, for instance, made important modifications to its govt compensation after its shareholders rejected its govt compensation in 2023.

AMC Theatres shareholders had additionally rejected CEO Adam Aron’s pay bundle that very same yr. The leisure enterprise is among the many business’s with the very best complete govt compensation amongst sectors.

On the 2024 annual assembly, shareholders had solely simply barely permitted WBD’s govt pay packages, and this yr Institutional Shareholder Companies, an influential shareholder advisory agency, beneficial that shareholders reject the pay packages, “in gentle of insufficient responsiveness and an unmitigated pay-for-performance misalignment.”

In an announcement following the vote, the Warner Bros. Discovery board mentioned it “appreciates the views of all its shareholders and takes the outcomes of the annual advisory vote on govt compensation severely. The Compensation Committee of the Board appears to be like ahead to persevering with its common apply of partaking in constructive dialogue with our shareholders.”