What’s the mood among the Warner Bros. Discovery rank and file amid the pending Paramount takeover? Some WBD execs have privately expressed hope the antitrust case brought by 12 states, with a trial set to take place in March 2027, can slow down or stop the merger. Paramount and WBD had hoped to close the deal by Q3 of this year.
According to WBD chief executive David Zaslav, despite the uncertainty and delays with the merger, employees have displayed an “inspiring” work ethic to keep the business humming along.
“The overall culture of this company and the work ethic of the company has been inspiring,” he said on the company’s Q2 earnings call. “It’s, you know, it has been challenging. … Our focus has been how do we drive a stronger company to meet and meet our our business plan and deliver a a stronger and higher growth company to PSKY and David, so that Paramount coming together with Warner Bros. is even stronger.”
Zaslav said, “I thought it was going to be quite challenging, but you know when you look at the way this company is performing, and you look at the close to 40,000 people coming in every day — I went all across Europe in the last six weeks and met and was in most of those countries meeting with people. They’re working extremely hard, and the focus has been that this is a great company, and that how do we take advantage of every day we’re here and and try and and focus on best performance possible.”
