WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar Formalizes Plan To Exit Company Ahead Of Discovery Deal Close

Jason Kilar, the former Hulu and Amazon exec who has led WarnerMedia as CEO since May 2020, has formalized plans to exit the company on the eve of its merger with Discovery.

In a memo to staff today, the exec confirmed his departure just days ahead of the expected close of the $43 billion merger. The exact date when the combination becomes official is not known, but multiple insiders suggest it could be as soon as Friday, with the new stock trading next week. Kilar’s last official day is Friday.

The CEO’s departure had been anticipated for nearly a year. WarnerMedia parent AT&T proposed spinning off WarnerMedia in a new entity controlled by Discovery in May 2021. A period of corporate jockeying around the time of the stealthily negotiated deal reached its peak when Kilar was featured in a lengthy profile in the Wall Street Journal, positioning him as the long-term head of the company. Less than two days after the publication of that article, it was revealed that Discovery CEO David Zaslav would be the one running the new entity.

Despite the writing on the wall, principals at AT&T, WarnerMedia or Discovery have never confirmed a specific path for Kilar and he had always demurred when asked about his plans. After initial rumblings that the exec had exploring his legal options after having been blindsided by the transaction, he settled in and oversaw a period of solid financial performance and regrouping at WarnerMedia.

HBO Max in particular found its footing under Kilar, who came aboard in large part because of his streaming expertise. The platform got off to a shaky start in May 2020 for a host of reasons, but Kilar soon negotiated key distribution deals with Amazon and Roku and executed a restructuring aimed at making the long-troubled org chart more coherent. Aided by buzzy series like Succession and Euphoria and day-and-date movie releases from Warner Bros, the service ended 2021 with 73.8 million global subscribers when combined with linear HBO. Kilar executed two of his key objectives with HBO Max in 2021, adding an ad-supported tier and expanding it to dozens of territories outside the U.S.

Kilar has remained a highly visible presence at WarnerMedia, appearing last week at a launch event for CNN+ at the top of the company’s New York headquarters in Hudson Yards.

“There are many feelings one could have in a moment like this,” Kilar wrote in the staff memo, “but for me there are none bigger, or more lasting, than the feelings of gratitude and love that I have for this team, this company, and this mission.”

Kilar has repeatedly declined to offer any thoughts about where he sees his next professional opportunity. In addition to being the founding chief of Hulu, he also founded and ran a video startup, Vessel, which was acquired by Verizon and then shuttered.

The executive shuffle provides one of the final punctuation marks on AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. The deal, which closed in 2018 after a government antitrust challenge, proved in the end to be an expensive mess and one that drew comparisons with the company’s previous nightmare, an ill-fated union with AOL in the 2000s. AT&T’s pickup of Time Warner, in addition to its purchase of DirecTV two years earlier, was estimated to have cost AT&T shareholders some $50 billion. Given the red ink and staggering debt load, AT&T opted to refocus on its core telecom business, spinning off DirecTV into a new entity 30%-owned by private equity firm TPG. The new entertainment entity is similarly weighted toward AT&T shareholders, but Discovery is gaining operational control.

Here is Kilar’s full memo:

Team —

With the pending transaction with Discovery nearing close, now is the right time to share with each of you that I will be departing this amazing company.

There are many feelings one could have in a moment like this, but for me there are none bigger, or more lasting, than the feelings of gratitude and love that I have for this team, this company, and this mission. I’ve never been more fulfilled professionally. I’ve never been happier professionally. This team – and what we’ve built together – are the reasons for that. We’re leading the industry creatively. We’ve elevated technology, product, and design to the highest levels in the company. We’re operating as one team, proudly and successfully going direct to consumers across the globe. It has been deeply gratifying to lean into the future alongside each of you and to do so with conviction.

The joys are many, especially the walk-and-talks that I’ve had with a great many WarnerMedia team members, diving deeply into the matters at hand, whether on the storied lot in Burbank, along The High Line at Hudson Yards, in and around Techwood and CNN Center, inside our archives, across the expansive lot at Leavesden, at any of our game studio locations, or the many other locations where this team quite literally changes the world. Apparently, word has gotten around that when Jason calls for a walk-and-talk, be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes!

For those of you that know me well (or follow me on Twitter), it comes as no surprise that I adore our history and the footprint we have as a company across the globe. I’ve done my best to visit and get to know as many of you as possible and to photographically document my love for this team and this company along the way via social media. So, when my wife Jamie and I were thinking about what we could do on our own to adequately express our appreciation to each of you, we came up with the idea to create a series of artifacts featuring some of the photos I’ve taken to celebrate this team and WarnerMedia. We’re inviting each of you to visit this website and choose an image that resonates…from the iconic Warner Bros. water tower, the gleaming towers of Hudson Yards, the virtual production stage in Leavesden, and several more. An artifact featuring that image (and a note from me on the back) will be shipped to you in the coming weeks. Our hope is that this memento will bring a smile and remind you of the important contributions we’ve made to the 99-year legacy of this extraordinary company.

Leading this team has been the honor of my lifetime. My heart is so full, and I am beyond thankful to each of you. There is no better team on the planet, and I will savor every last step as I wander the lot in Burbank several more times this week, with this team on my mind, always.

Jason