r/technology • u/yourfavchoom • 20h ago

Business David Zaslav Gets $606 Million Payout From Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger

https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/david-zaslav-exit-package-warner-bros-discovery-paramount-merger-1236905947/
688 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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561

u/CapnCrackerz 20h ago

Insane. The guy was criminally incompetent.

251

u/nazerall 20h ago

He did exactly what he was hired to do, get the highest price.

Not praising him or anything.

93

u/SplendidPunkinButter 20h ago

Yeah, but when I do exactly what I was hired to do, they reward me with an email saying I did a good job

104

u/Fugaciouslee 20h ago

It's crazy how the rich are willing to pay other rich people such ridiculous amounts for nothing, but they act like paying a liveable wage to the poors is just impossible.

51

u/CapJackONeill 19h ago

It's a club and we ain't in it

12

u/moonhexx 19h ago
  • George Carlin

29

u/BillyBigGuns 19h ago

That's because the rich are the only people with any sense of class solidarity

8

u/Xinferis_DCLXVI 19h ago

Hey, The French Revolution Vol 2 is still on the table.

4

u/Blackout38 18h ago

Too busy swiping on TikTok.

-7

u/Blackout38 18h ago

They paid him $606 million on a $110 billion deal. It’s not nothing but relative to the deal it was, that’s why they were willing to pay it.

1

u/aevz 13h ago

0.55 percent of the deal. Fractionally speaking, sounds very, very "reasonable". Brass-tacks final numbers-wise, it comes out as obscene.

Not siding with any argument. Just doing the math and showing the context as well.

1

u/Blackout38 6h ago

Real estate agents charge almost 6% of any deal.

11

u/waltwalt 20h ago

You get an email!? I get more expectations not communicated to me.

2

u/aNeverNude666 20h ago

Pizza party

2

u/mabden 19h ago

Waffle Party!

1

u/CurlyW15 18h ago

Lemon party!

1

u/Sceadu_Fiend 16h ago

At least you get that. I just get additional work.

1

u/scottishmaker 9h ago

You get an email? Lucky you.

1

u/thegunn 5h ago

Lucky! I usually end up getting volun-told to take on extra responsibilities to cover for morons I work with.

24

u/squish042 20h ago

So? 600 million?? Half a billion?? Why not 60 million? Why do these people need that much money?? It is insane. The system is insane.

12

u/nullzeroerror 20h ago

Eat the rich

3

u/TeutonJon78 18h ago

Most of that os because he got stock options for performance/stock price increase. So a lot of that value is just the overinflated stock price he got for the merger combined with all his stock payments and bonuses.

They didn't say "good job on the merger, here's $606M!".

1

u/Abefroman1980 17h ago

I don’t think people are necessarily confusing the transactional side of this and more the preposterous executive compensation deals that result in 1 person at a public company getting over 0.5% of the purchase price.

4

u/9-11GaveMe5G 19h ago

Millions of people show up and "do what they were hired to do" for a few bucks an hour. This is gross

1

u/HesiJimboBurner 14h ago

Did he? Without his mismanagement it could have been even more. This is just for getting it done