David Zaslav Becomes Enemy No. 1, Will Reportedly Earn Almost 50M With Latest Salary Hike as WB-Discovery Stocks Nosedive into Oblivion

David Zaslav, since his appointment as the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, has not been the most popular guy around. With his cost-cutting decisions from shelving projects to cancelling others, there has been a lot of things that have fans reeling. And now, seems like they have one more thing to hate about the man.

The Warner Bros. part of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger has not seen many positives so far. But according to the last quarterly report of 2024, WBD has managed to pay off almost $6 billion of its debt, having reduced it from $48 to $42 billion since the merger in 2022.

David Zaslav Faces The Public Ire Once More

Recently, it was reported that David Zaslav, the CEO of WBD, has hiked his own salary by almost 27%, now reaching almost a $50 million mark. This has happened at a time when WBD stocks are taking a nosedive into the deep, which is even more startling for the public. Investors are pulling out, and stocks have been bearing the burnt.

After having stopped production on multiple projects, and doing cost-cutting with the ongoing ones as well as the streaming service, things are not looking up for either WBD or Zaslav. The public is not too happy either, as they flock to social media to express their displeasure about the CEO having a salary hike at a time when the stocks of the company are going under.

There are people with high levels of disconnection from reality, and there is #DavidZaslav.
Or Zaz doesn’t read the room at all or he literally doesn’t care, but he rises his own salary, up almost +27% about to hit the 50M mark, in the same rates the $WBD free-falls at the Stock… pic.twitter.com/ZEyj3mcxLF

— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) April 19, 2024

Absolutely ridiculous. Wish I could get 50 million for running a 100 year old company into the ground.

— M (@Pezzhedz) April 19, 2024

Only $50 mil to destroy multiple legacy brands and try to take down cinema? Seems low

— Jerald (@silvrski) April 19, 2024

That's a year-long swan dive pic.twitter.com/w6vc6IjsMd

— Aaronado (@_CRSCNDLLS_) April 19, 2024

Reportedly, according to NASDAQ, Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue is at $10.28 billion in the last business quarter.

Can WB-Disvovery Come Out of the Slump?

Given the current situation, while the only part of WBD that is seeing some profits is the movie business, it will still take some time before they can be above ground completely. A lot is at stake for James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe to do well after the end of the DCEU. The reboot could be exactly what the company needs at a time like this, or it might drag it down way more than where it is now.

Chapter One of the DCU – Gods and Monsters – will see a reboot of the DCEU, with very few actors retaining their parts in the upcoming DCU – including John Cena‘s Peacemaker and Xolo Mariduena’s Blue Beetle. The main trio is more or less gone – with David Corenswet having replaced Henry Cavill as Superman, and the company already looking at actors to replace Ben Affleck’s Batman. The only one who is yet to have a decision made on is Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, which will come sooner or later.

The fans and the general public now have to wait to see if DCU has the capacity to take WBD in a positive direction. David Zaslav and team will have to work a lot more to make sure things work out this time around. The DCU will start it’s journey with Superman, set to be released on July 11, 2025.