Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have approved the massive acquisition offer from Paramount Skydance and the Ellison family, but not without one last dig at outgoing CEO David Zaslav.
The Paramount offer blew away what once was a favored deal with Netflix to acquire the streaming and studio side with an offer of $31 per share for the entirety of WBD that amounted to a deal approximating $110 billion for the entire company. Given the stock is currently sitting at $27 and went as low as $7 per share in 2024, it is a risky overpay in Paramount’s efforts to build a true media empire. And one that WBD found that it could finally not say no to.
According to Variety, shareholders gave their final approval to the sale on Thursday morning. The deal still needs regulatory approval, but given close ties between the Ellison family and the Trump administration, it’s not expected to be a serious hurdle.
However, in approving the acquisition, shareholders also rejected Zaslav’s exorbitant package that could total up to $550 million. They also did the same for other WBD executives that stand to make over $100 million from the deal.
The acquisition will create a giant in the sports media world with CBS and TNT Sports officially joining forces. And given how aggressive Paramount has been with the recent purchase of UFC rights, it appears to be a major focus of the new company.
That’s ironic because in his time as WBD CEO, David Zaslav was the one who lost NBA rights after several decades of being in a close relationship with the league. In fact, Zaslav was largely dismissive of sports as a driving force for the business altogether as he decided to focus on entertainment content. In some regards, he was vindicated in his approach of a slimmer and sleeker WBD as the company was prepared for purchase, but investors still have a bad taste in their mouths about the hundreds of millions of dollars he stands to make from the sale.
It’s the second time that shareholders have revolted against Zaslav. In June of last year in the midst of the NBA debacle, shareholders rejected his massive salary in a vote of protest. Unfortunately for them, though, both votes are non-binding and it’s likely that even in spite of his missteps and both internal and external criticism, David Zaslav is going to walk away an insanely rich man.
About Matt Yoder