Warner Discovery boss is again among highest-paid CEOs in America

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred Even before Warner Bros.Discovery’s sale to Paramount Skydance Corp.

closes, David Zaslav has already made a big payday.His executive compensation package — which includes stock options, salary, bonuses and other perks — was valued at $165 million last year, placing him as the eighth-highest-paid CEO for a large U.S.

publicly traded company, according to research firm Equilar.Tech companies dominated the list led by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk with a pay package worth nearly $132.3 billion.

RJ Scaringe, CEO of Rivian, the Irvine-based EV truck company, came in fifth with $402.6 million.Zaslav has previously ranked among America’s highest-paid CEOs and that was true last year, when his total pay was more than three times what he earned at the company in 2024, Equilar said.He was the only Hollywood executive on the list of the 10 highest-paid CEOs in 2025.“If he were an animal, he’d be a Cheshire cat with this big grin ear to ear,” said Lloyd Greif, chief executive of the Los Angeles investment bank Greif & Co.

“It’s unprecedented.It’s a huge payday.”As businesses in Hollywood and other sectors face more consolidation and competition, executives are getting richly compensated more for their role in leading companies through challenging times.

“That has to do with the environment we’re in, and because of all the fears of recessions, all the fears of inflation, it’s gotten a lot harder to navigate through this economy and so companies are paying more for that leadership at the top,” said Courtney Yu, Equilar’s director of research.But shareholders have pushed back against hefty pay packages, which come during a period of upheaval in Hollywood that has been buffeted by job losses from media consolidation and outsourcing.One proxy firm, Institutional Shareholder Ser...