Is it a coincidence Discovery Communications released its proxy late on a Friday leading into a holiday weekend? I suspect not when you look at the breathtaking salary it discloses for CEO David Zaslav in 2014, the first year of his new contract. It’s $156.1 million, up from $33.3 million in 2013.
To be sure, the bulk of it comes from one-time stock awards that vest over six years. The package breaks down: $3 million in salary, $94.6 million in stock awards, $50.5 million in option awards, $6.1 million in non equity incentives, and $1.9 million in other compensation. The “other” category includes $296,930 for personal use of the company aircraft, $50,324 for tax gross-ups, a $16,800 car allowance, $16,619 for personal security, and $3,614 for home office expenses.
In determining his bonus, the board decided that Zaslav achieved 96% of his quantitative goals and 95% of his qualitative ones. The huge slugs of stock awards in his new contract are designed to “drive immediate shareholder alignment and encourage long-term ownership of our stock,” the proxy says. “This contract rewards Mr. Zaslav for the value he has created and the continued strategic direction he provides and requires sustained performance over time for that award to have value. At the end of his contract, Mr. Zaslav will own a substantial amount of equity of Discovery, which reinforces his alignment with our shareholders and encourages long-term ownership of our stock.”
But some shareholders may wonder how an executive could fare so well in a year when Discovery stock did not. The adjusted stock price fell 25.4% in 2014, a year when the Standard & Poor’s 500 appreciated 17.2%. Discovery revenues increased 13.2% to $6.27 billion with net income up 6% to $1.14 billion.
The board’s compensation committee consists of former Advance/Newhouse Chairman Robert Miron, financial consultant Robert Beck, and Allen & Co’s Paul Gould.
The annual shareholders’ meeting will take place on May 20 at Discovery’s headquarters in Silver Spring, MD.
In a business of incredibly high salaries for top talent, that’s still pretty obscene.
What’s obscene is he doesn’t really do actual work. He just wears a suit, gives “keynote” speeches, and takes all the credit. He’s riding the wave of Craig Piligian and Thom Beers and smiling for the camera’s. The fact that this guy takes that kind of paycheck and thinks he deserves it, blows my f-ing mind.
So the stock price trailed the S&P by nearly 43%, but they still give him $156 million. Cue the revolution.
Really? The Hub tanked, everyone list their jobs & OWN is still a loser. As a shreholder while its nice for mgmt to have interest in the company, that money should br going to shareholders or employees. Disgusting
Do the rest of the people in the company get stock options?
They don’t get any benefits: no health INS.
No pension plans, no ot pay, etal.??
It’s not legal for there not to be health insurance.
Raider488, Discovery contracts “freelancers” for their shows. They are not required to provide health insurance or pay overtime. Sad when Zaslav makes this ridiculous amount of money and people are not paid appropriately for working 18 hour shifts.
People who helped build Discovery have been fired, let go, replaced unceremoniously and still DZ reels in barrels of money. It’s really criminal to see this kind of excess pointed at one person when there are so many who get so little. I know, snarky comments will ensue, but at a certain point in time one person is not the only one responsible for the success of a company, It takes many, working together, to build something great. Reward your CEO, but every now and then it would be phenomenal to see a corporation decide to bonus everyone in its employ, not just one already insanely rich person.
If the free market works (or rather, if it’s actually a free market), Discovery’s stock is going to feel the pain. No one person, save perhaps the 1-in-1 million CEOs like Jobs, could ever make a claim to this sort of value and importance. This package is both irrational and inexcusable, and if I held Disco stock, I’d be very worried.
Just think of what could be done with 156 amazingly talented people working for 1 million dollars a year each at the helm? This is f***ing insane!!!!
This is his reward for programming that makes people even stupider than they are, with no educational or entertainment value but being inexpensive. Pathetic!
I guess now we know why they’re so cheap and don’t pay their bills.
If he was the CEO of a major bank or oil company those clowns at MSNBC would be outraged.
Couldnt 30mil of that go to employees. That kind of salary is criminal. Not mention all the people that have been fired recently.
This is criminal.
That’s $427,000 a day. He & that compensation committee can go fuck themselves.
Hello, Discovery should broadcast documentaries, not reality-shows.
Discovery used to do important documentaries about science and health and life and death and important things. Now it’s just sharks and garbage.
“Sharks and Garbage” actually premieres May 1 at 9 PM