{"id":2124495,"date":"2025-10-30T10:26:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T10:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2124495"},"modified":"2025-10-30T10:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T10:26:11","slug":"warner-bros-discovery-is-up-for-sale-why-ceo-david-zaslav-isnt-ready-to-give-up-the-reins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/warner-bros-discovery-is-up-for-sale-why-ceo-david-zaslav-isnt-ready-to-give-up-the-reins\/","title":{"rendered":"Warner Bros. Discovery is up for sale. Why CEO David Zaslav isn’t ready to give up the reins"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Paramount Chairman David Ellison\u2019s latest offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery contained a twist:<\/p>\n

Should Paramount, backed by tech billionaire Larry Ellison, pull off the purchase, Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav could stay on to help lead the combined enterprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re sweetening the pot,\u201d Paul Hardart, a professor at New York University\u2019s Stern School of Business, said of the Ellison family. \u201cIt just shows all the little arrows in their quiver they\u2019re using to try to push this deal<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Ellison\u2019 unexpected olive branch to Zaslav was contained in a letter this month to Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s board that offered $58 billion in cash and stock for the entire company. The move underscores the family\u2019s determination to win the entertainment company that includes HBO, celebrity.land and Warner Bros. film and television studios \u2014 and an obstacle in their path.<\/p>\n

After hustling for decades to get to the big stage, Zaslav, 65, isn\u2019t ready to relinquish the reins. He\u2019s eager to prove critics wrong and complete a turnaround after three painful years of setbacks and cost cuts to reduce the company\u2019s mountain of debt. <\/p>\n

Warner Bros. Discovery board members, including Zaslav, have unanimously voted to reject Paramount\u2019s three bids, viewing them as too low and not in the best interest of shareholders, according to two people close to the company who were not authorized to comment.<\/p>\n

The board supports Zaslav\u2019s desire to forge ahead with a planned split of the company next spring. But it also has opened the auction to other potential suitors, which is expected to lead to the firm changing hands for the third time in a decade.<\/p>\n

Representatives of Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount declined to comment.<\/p>\n

David Ellison\u2019s audacious offer is being guaranteed by his father, Larry Ellison, the world\u2019s second richest man with a net worth that exceeds $340 billion. The Ellisons\u2019 proposal includes paying 80% cash to Warner shareholders and the rest in stock, according to two people familiar with the matter who weren\u2019t authorized to comment. The most recent offer was $23.50 a share.<\/p>\n

The Ellisons began their campaign last month, just weeks after David Ellison\u2019s Skydance Media, along with RedBird Capital Partners, picked up the keys to Paramount, which includes CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon and the Melrose Avenue film studio, which has been depleted by decades of underinvestment. <\/p>\n

Since then, the 42-year-old Ellison has led Paramount on a buying bonanza, paying $7.7 billion for UFC media rights<\/a> and $1.25 billion over five years<\/a> to Matt Stone and Trey Parker to continue creating their cartoon \u201cSouth Park.\u201d It also wooed Matt and Ross Duffer, the duo behind \u201cStranger Things,\u201d away from Netflix<\/a> with an exclusive four-year deal. This week, it announced a planned East Coast expansion, signing a 10-year lease for a film and TV production center<\/a> under construction in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

The proposed addition of the more vibrant Warner Bros. would give the Ellisons an unparalleled entertainment portfolio with DC Comics including Superman, \u201cTop Gun,\u201d Scooby-Doo, Harry Potter, \u201cThe Matrix\u201d and \u201cThe Gilded Age.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family would control streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+, nearly three dozen cable channels, including HGTV, Food Network and TBS, and two legacy news operations \u2014 celebrity.land and CBS News. <\/p>\n

It would also accelerate the trend of uber billionaires, including Amazon\u2019s Jeff Bezos and SpaceX\u2019s Elon Musk, of owning prominent news, entertainment and social media platforms. Larry Ellison also is part of a U.S.-based consortium lined up by President Trump to buy TikTok from its Chinese owners. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf a trade deal with China is imminent, and TikTok would be aligned, then it would create a new media colossus, the likes of which we haven\u2019t seen,\u201d said veteran executive Jonathan Miller, chief executive of the investment firm Integrated Media Co. <\/p>\n

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Paramount is in talks to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/p>\n

(Al Seib \/ Los Angeles Times; Dania Maxwell \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

The drama is unfolding as Paramount on Wednesday slashed 1,000 workers<\/a> in the first round of cuts<\/a> since Ellison took over. A second wave of layoffs \u2014 affecting another 1,000 workers \u2014 is expected in the coming weeks, helping fulfill a promise made to Wall Street by Ellison and Redbird to reduce expenses by more than $2 billion.<\/p>\n

Combining with Warner Bros. would bring more layoffs<\/a>, analysts said, and a potential hollowing out of a historic studio. <\/p>\n

\u201cMerger after merger in the media industry has harmed workers<\/a>, diminished competition<\/a> and free speech, and wasted hundreds of billions of dollars better invested in organic growth,\u201d the Writers Guild of America West, said last week in a statement in opposition to the proposed unification. \u201cCombining Warner Bros. with Paramount or another major studio or streamer would be a disaster for writers, for consumers, and for competition.\u201d <\/p>\n

Critics point to a long list of media merger misfires, including the disastrous AOL Time Warner merger a quarter century ago. Some critics contend Walt Disney Co.\u2019s $71-billion purchase of much of Rupert Murdoch\u2019s entertainment holdings didn\u2019t live up to expectations, and AT&T whiffed its $85-billion deal for Time Warner, handing it to Zaslav\u2019s Discovery four years later for $43 billion. <\/p>\n

The New York native, a descendant of Jewish immigrants from Poland and Ukraine, had spent 16 years running the Discovery cable channel group, a respectable business, but one that lacked Hollywood flash. <\/p>\n

Zaslav grew up on the fringe of New York City, in Ramapo, N.Y., where he\u2019d been a promising tennis player who proudly wore his athletic gear to middle school. Tennis was his identity \u2014 until he started getting beat by players he used to whip. <\/p>\n

Zaslav\u2019s coach sat him down, bluntly saying he wasn\u2019t putting in the work. <\/p>\n

\u201cI vowed that day I would never be outworked again,\u201d Zaslav said during a 2023 commencement address to Boston University graduates. Underlings have long marveled at his indefatigable work ethic. <\/p>\n

The speech was meant to be his triumphant return to his alma mater. Zaslav had finally made it to Hollywood, where he was now holding court in an exquisite corner office that had belonged to studio founder Jack Warner. <\/p>\n

Zaslav had big plans to turn around Warner Bros. But, in Boston, he suffered a beatdown.<\/p>\n

The Writers Guild of America had just gone on strike against his and other Hollywood studios. Protesters heckled Zaslav<\/a>. Students booed. A plane flew overhead, waving a banner that read: \u201cDavid Zaslav Pay Your Writers.\u201d<\/p>\n

He had assumed control a year earlier, in April 2022, just as Wall Street soured on media companies that were spending wildly to build streaming services to compete with Netflix. <\/p>\n

Zaslav inherited a venture bleeding billions of dollars to get into streaming. The merger itself saddled the company with $55 billion of debt. Warner\u2019s stock plummeted.<\/p>\n

He and his team spent the first few years slashing divisions, canceling TV programs and contracts, and shelving movies. To further reduce expenses, the company laid off thousands of workers. Hollywood soon viewed Zaslav with derision. <\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t help that Zaslav has long been one of the most handsomely compensated executives in America.<\/p>\n

There were high-profile stumbles<\/a>, including jettisoning staff of the tiny Turner Classic Movies channel and an ill-conceived rebrand of its streamer to \u201cMax\u201d before changing the name back to HBO Max. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Warner Bros. Discovery merger was a well-intended failure,\u201d Hardart said. \u201cThe cable subscriber base shrank at a faster rate than most people had forecast. … Thousands have lost their jobs, the HBO brand has been reimagined and reimagined, films have been mothballed and the future of the Warner Bros. studio is today uncertain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warner Bros. Discovery paid down $20 billion in debt, but $35 billion remains. The debt load has nearly suffocated the company, making it a vulnerable target.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of fixing that David Zaslav and his team had to do,\u201d Bank of America media analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich said in a recent interview. \u201cIt\u2019s been three years of incredibly heavy lifting \u2014 but that\u2019s pretty much done now.\u201d <\/p>\n

In a note to investors last week, Ehrlich wrote Warner\u2019s strong franchises, including DC Comics, and its voluminous library make it \u201can extremely attractive potential acquisition target,\u201d one that could fetch $30 a share. Her firm carries a \u201cbuy\u201d rating on the stock.<\/p>\n

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Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav and AT&T Chief Executive John Stankey shake hands on May 17, 2021, in New York City.<\/p>\n

(Preston Bradford \/ Discovery)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Last summer, Zaslav announced plans to split the company in two halves. <\/p>\n

Zaslav would run Warner Bros., which would consist of the Burbank studios, HBO and the HBO Max streaming service. Longtime lieutenant Gunnar Wiedenfels would helm Discovery Global, made up of the firm\u2019s international businesses and basic cable channels, which face an uncertain future in the streaming era.<\/p>\n

Those who know Zaslav believe he\u2019s working to stave off the Ellison takeover, in part, because he wants the chance to bring the company back to its glory, which would ultimately make it more valuable for its investors and prospective buyers. <\/p>\n

For Warner management, that\u2019s part of the rub. The Ellisons showed up just as the company was displaying signs of a turnaround, including a hot streak by Warner Bros. that includes \u201cA Minecraft Movie,\u201d Ryan Coogler\u2019s \u201cSinners,\u201d James Gunn\u2019s \u201cSuperman,\u201d Formula One adventure \u201cF1: The Movie,\u201d and horror flick \u201cWeapons.\u201d <\/p>\n

In addition, HBO returned to its winning ways at last month\u2019s Emmys, collecting an industry-leading 30 awards, tied with Netflix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\" <\/picture>\n
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Larry, from left, Megan and David Ellison attend the premiere of Paramount Pictures\u2019 \u201cTerminator Genisys\u201d at Dolby Theatre on June 28, 2015.<\/p>\n

(Lester Cohen \/ WireImage)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Ellison\u2019s bidding was designed to thwart Warner\u2019s planned corporate breakup. <\/p>\n

For now, analysts said, Zaslav and the Warner board\u2019s current strategy is solid because they have effectively driven up the stock price, which has doubled to $21 a share since the Ellison\u2019s interest became known in mid-September. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are doing the right thing,\u201d Hardart said. \u201cIn any sale, you try to beat the bushes and get as many people interested. But at some point the board is going to have to make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added one investor: \u201cThey\u2019ve gotten Paramount-Skydance to bid against itself, and that only goes so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Analysts expect Philadelphia giant Comcast, owner of NBCUniversal, and potentially Netflix, Apple or Amazon to take a look at the company\u2019s studio, library and streaming assets. <\/p>\n

But many see the Ellison\u2019s Skydance as having the edge.<\/p>\n

Paramount, in its recent letter to the Warner board, argued that it was the best and most logical buyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Skydance offers WBD, in many ways, is what it offered Paramount: The ability to be aggressive and push all aspects of the business in a way that most people or companies that have less capital just can\u2019t do,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey are deploying real capital, and they are being the most aggressive folks in the industry right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paramount Chairman David Ellison\u2019s latest offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery contained a twist: Should Paramount, backed by tech billionaire Larry Ellison, pull off the purchase, Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav could stay on to help lead the combined enterprise. \u201cThey\u2019re sweetening the pot,\u201d Paul Hardart, a professor at New York University\u2019s Stern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2124496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2124495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Warner-Bros-Discovery-is-up-for-sale-Why-CEO-David.com2Fec2Ffd2Feea9b89240cb9edbc05e4b97.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2124495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2124497,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124495\/revisions\/2124497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2124496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2124495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2124495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2124495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}