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Warner Bros. Discovery
CEO David Zaslav’s potential payout of more than $800 million from the Paramount Skydance deal highlights an obscure tax rule originally designed to limit CEO pay.
According to SEC filings, Zaslav could collect hundreds of millions of dollars in severance and other stock awards and payments following Paramount’s acquisition of WBD. The payments include about $500 million in share awards, about $115 million in vested stock awards and $34 million in cash, according to the filings.
The deal also includes up to $335 million in potential payments to Zaslav for what’s known as the “golden parachute” excise tax. The tax was originally created by Congress in the 1980s to limit what many considered to be outsized payouts to chief executives upon a change of control or sale of their companies. The tax, of 20%, kicks in when an executive’s payout exceeds three times their typical base salary and target annual bonus.
