Warner Bros. Discovery Shareholders Slam CEO David Zaslav’s Compensation In Say-On-Pay Vote
11.05.2023 - 01:27
/ deadline.com
Stockholders have expressed serious displeasure with 2022 executive compensation at Warner Bros. Discovery led by CEO David Zaslav, according to the result of a vote at the annual meeting Monday that was filed with the SEC today.
The so called say-on-pay vote saw nearly half of all votes cast coming out against last year’s comp, which was ratified with just over 50% approval. The votes are advisory only, meaning they’re non-binding, but they do have a impact. Most public companies get over 90% approval and anything under 70% is considered pretty dismal.
In the case of a high percentage of votes against, management will often engage with shareholders and try to tweak things for the following year – in this case 2023. Netflix, Disney (under Bob Iger’s previous tenure) and others have faced shareholder dissent.
WBD’s annual meeting was virtual and only accessible to WBD shareholders. According to today’s filing, there were a very close 770.6 million votes against 2022 pay, with 795.3 million voting to ratify.
Companies lay out compensation policies and pay numbers for their top five highest-remunerated executives in proxy statements filed with the SEC early each year for the year before. CEO pay makes the headlines — media CEOs in particular these days as writers strike in large part for better pay, and layoffs continue across the entertainment industry whose chief executives are an extremely well paid group. Zaslav’s compensation for 2022 totaled nearly $39.3 million. The year before, in 2021, the figure was $246 million, swelled by a large option grant. Equity awards often vest over time, as that grant did, and only if the stock hits certain levels.
For 2022, Zaslav had a base salary of $3 million, stock and option
The website popstar.one is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can
send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.