Warner Bros. Shareholders Send a Clear Message to David Zaslav

I’m not going to delude myself into thinking that Daviz Zaslav will face any real consequences for destroying a legacy media company like Warner Bros. Hell, I’m not even going to pretend that WB is perfect or ever has been. They’ve been trying to screw over artists since the days of James Cagney. Despite countless executives determined to drive that company into the ground, it has produced some of my favorite films ever, even as recently as last year (hello, Sinners).

So, watching David Zaslav come in, mismanage it, and then strip it for parts has been painful. He screwed up a massive NBA deal, constantly faced losses, and generated enough bad PR to keep every firm in Los Angeles busy for decades. And yet, the man has consistently managed to be paid bonuses. To be fair, the company has managed to work despite him (again, Sinners), and the sale that he brokered to Paramount will raise shareholder value, but it will also put scores of people out of work and be detrimental to an already struggling industry.

Now, Deadline is reporting that while shareholders have agreed to the sale, they do not want to give Zaslav a payout of $886 million, a number so absurd that the coffee I spat out while reading it got on your computer. Zaslav would have had to shepherd 50,000 Sinners to be worth that kind of money. Instead, we only got one Sinners, and seemingly tens of thousands of stories about how Zaslav was ruining the company while making himself richer.

I’m hard-pressed to think of a clearer sign that someone is unliked or viewed as unsuccessful than a large number of people deciding not to give him more money after he just (potentially) made them more money. My biggest guess is that the money, I assume, would come out of the company, which is already significantly in debt. A payout like that could also be a driving factor in more layoffs. Or, shareholders didn’t want to give that much cash to such a massive loser.

While Zaslav’s payout was struck down by 82% of shareholders, he still may receive it. For whatever reason, this kind of vote is nonbinding. From my understanding, it is the equivalent of a strongly worded letter. However, the payout he receives could still be (at least) reduced. I won’t be holding my breath, but in a world where some of my favorite things are constantly being pulled apart by rich white men who want to line their own pockets, I’d just like to see a little comeuppance, as a treat.