Discovery Inc. CEO David Zaslav received total compensation of $42.2 million in 2017, a 13.2% boost from the prior year, fueled mainly by increases in option awards.
Zaslav’s salary stayed the same at $3 million, but he received $15.6 million in option awards, a 41% lift from the $11.1 million he received in the prior year.
Chief Financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels, who joined Discovery on April 1, 2017, replacing former CFO Andrew Warren, received about $6 million in total compensation, including an $803,846 salary, $1.3 million in stock awards and $1.6 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation.
Discovery completed its $14.6 billion purchase of Scripps Networks earlier this month. It announced in January that it plans to move its headquarters from Silver Spring, Md. to New York by 2019.
Warren received $2.9 million in total compensation, about the same he received in the prior year. Warren’s salary was $349,111 for those three months (he left the company on March 31, 2017) down from $1.2 million for the full year 2016, but he received a $2.2 million in other compensation, mostly severance, which made up the difference.
Another executive who left the company – former chief commercial officer Paul Guyardo, received $5.98 million in total compensation, up from $4.6 million in the prior year. Guyardo left Discovery on Dec. 31.
Discovery chief development, distribution and legal officer Bruce Campbell saw his total compensation rise 16% to $7.8 million in 2017. Discovery Networks International CEO Jean-Briac Perrette’s total compensation dipped 29% to $8.2 million from $11.6 million in 2016, mainly due to one-time stock awards he received in the prior year.
