By Elisa
A majority of Warner Bros Discovery shareholders voted against the 2024 pay packages of CEO David Zaslav and other top executives at the media conglomerate’s annual stockholder meeting, a Tuesday regulatory filing showed.
The board of directors had recommended shareholders to vote in favor of the 2024 executive compensation; however, more than 59% of them rejected the proposal on a non-binding basis.
For 2024, Zaslav’s total compensation rose 4% from the prior year to $51.9 million.
Warner Bros Discovery has been struggling to stem declines in its cable TV business amid widespread cord-cutting, focusing instead on its faster-growing streaming and studios divisions.
Last month, it missed first-quarter revenue estimates and posted a larger-than-expected loss.
The company is also moving towards a potential breakup, CNBC reported last month. WBD had laid the groundwork for a possible sale or spinoff of its declining cable TV assets last December by announcing a separation from its streaming and studio operations.
Powered by a strong content slate, including the third season of HBO’s “The White Lotus” and the medical drama series “The Pitt,” WBD added 5.3 million streaming subscribers in the January-March quarter, beating market expectations, but still far off from streaming industry leader Netflix.
