David Michael Zaslav (born January 15, 1960) is a media executive in the United States who is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Warner Bros. Discovery. Zaslav was instrumental in bringing AT&T and Discovery together to become the united Warner Bros. Discovery in April 2022. Zaslav’s executive compensation package includes a $3 million annual salary and a $22 million annual bonus. Zaslav received $190 million in stock options for his contract renewal. It was making him one of the highest-paid entertainment executives in the world. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer and President of Discovery, Inc. from November 16, 2006, to April 8, 2022, when it was merged with WarnerMedia.
David Zaslav’s net worth
David Zaslav is a wealthy American businessman with a net worth of $200 million. Zaslav began his legal career after graduating from Boston University’s School of Law and working with LeBouef, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae. He also taught a cable television business course as an adjunct professor at Fordham University.
David started working for NBC in the late 1980s and helped launch CNBC and MSNBC. He also assisted in developing numerous NBC affiliates, including Bravo, Syfy, Telemundo, USA Network, A&E, The History Channel, and The Sundance Channel, in mentioning a few. David also worked as NBC Universal’s President of Cable and Domestic TV, as well as New Media Distribution.
He was named President and CEO of the Discovery Channel in 2007. Since taking over as CEO of Discovery, he has undertaken several successful initiatives, including collaborating with Oprah Winfrey to build the Oprah Winfrey Network and creating Planet Green, an award-winning network devoted to sustainable living.
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David’s early life
Zaslav was born to a Polish and Ukrainian Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. He relocated to Rockland County when he was eight years old and graduated from Ramapo High School. He was the varsity tennis team’s captain. Zaslav graduated with honours from Binghamton University. After that, he earned JD honours from Boston University School of Law in 1985 and began his legal career with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Lieby, and MacRae in New York.
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David’s career
Zaslav began working for NBC in 1989. He managed content distribution to all forms of TV as president of Cable and Domestic TV and New Media Distribution, negotiated for NBCUniversal network coverage on cable and satellite, and formed media partnerships. Bravo, CNBC World, SCI FI, ShopNBC, Sleuth, Telemundo, Telemundo Puerto Rico, mun2, Trio, Universal HD, USA Network, NBC Weather Plus, and the Olympics on cable were among his responsibilities.
Zaslav was also in charge of NBCUniversal’s holdings in A&E, The History Channel, The Biography Channel, National Geographic International, Sundance Channel, and TiVo. David succeeded Judith McHale as CEO of Discovery Communications on November 16, 2006. Zaslav led the business’s strategy shift, attempting to position itself as a “content company” rather than a “cable company” by boosting its primary networks (such as its namesake Discovery Channel) as multi-platform brands.
As CEO, Zaslav oversaw the creation and launch of new networks such as Planet Green (later rebranded as Destination America), The Hub, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), Velocity, and Investigation Discovery, as well as the company’s 2018 acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive, expansion of its digital education operations, and current focus on streaming services.
