# Paramount Skydance Pays Ellison and Outgoing President $124M as WBD Holders Reject Zaslav Parachute
> Friday's SEC filing discloses $63.2M for David Ellison and $60.7M for outgoing president Jeff Shell, the same week the UK CMA invites comment on the merger and WBD's board weighs the rejected $886M exit package.
- Publication: The State of Streaming
- Section: Business & Deals
- Published: 2026-04-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Byline: The State of Streaming Staff
- Canonical URL: https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/04/wbd-paramount-merger-followups/
## Summary
Paramount Skydance disclosed Friday that David Ellison earned $63.2 million and departing president Jeff Shell earned $60.7 million in 2025, one day after WBD shareholders rejected David Zaslav's roughly $886 million golden parachute by 82% and as the UK CMA opened a pre-formal inquiry into the merger.

## Key facts

- Paramount Skydance disclosed in an SEC filing on April 24, 2026 that David Ellison's 2025 total compensation was $63.2 million, including $58.7 million in stock awards, after his August 7, 2025 start as CEO of the combined company.
- The same Paramount Skydance filing disclosed former president Jeff Shell's 2025 total compensation at $60.7 million, including the same $58.7 million equity grant; Shell departed the company in April 2026.
- The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened an invitation-to-comment phase on the Paramount-WBD merger on April 13, 2026, with the public comment period closing April 27; the CMA stated it has not yet launched a formal investigation.
- Reelgood data published March 4, 2026 estimated the combined HBO Max plus Paramount+ catalog at roughly 53,000 hours and the full Paramount-WBD portfolio with Discovery+ and Pluto TV at roughly 131,000 hours, or about 2.8 times Netflix's U.S. catalog.
- WBD's board has not publicly indicated whether it will pay David Zaslav's roughly $886 million merger-related compensation package despite the April 23, 2026 advisory rejection by approximately 82% of votes cast.


## Why it matters

The Friday filing arrives one business day after WBD shareholders refused on a nonbinding advisory vote to bless Zaslav's exit package, and during the same week proxies disclosed nine-figure 2025 comp for Comcast's Mike Cavanagh, TKO's Ari Emanuel, and others. The cluster turns a single-company governance signal into a Big Media exec-comp story that proxy advisors and institutional holders will be modeling against next season's votes.


## What to watch

- April 27, 2026 close of the UK CMA invitation-to-comment phase and the agency's subsequent decision on whether to open a formal Phase 1 investigation.
- Any WBD board action or disclosure on whether to pay or modify David Zaslav's merger-related compensation package given the 82% advisory rejection.
- Paramount Skydance's first public response, if any, to the WBD compensation rejection of executives at the company it is acquiring.
- European Commission announcement of any parallel formal review of the Paramount-WBD transaction.

## Article
Paramount Skydance Corporation (NASDAQ: PSKY) [disclosed in an SEC filing Friday](https://variety.com/2026/film/news/paramount-skydance-david-ellison-jeff-shell-pay-2025-compensation-1236730070/) that CEO David Ellison earned $63.2 million in 2025 and departing president [Jeff Shell](/people/jeff-shell/) earned $60.7 million, one business day after Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) shareholders refused on an advisory vote to bless CEO David Zaslav's roughly $886 million merger-related compensation package.

Both Ellison and Shell received an identical $58.7 million stock award, [per the same filing](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-president-jeff-shell-made-61-million-in-2025-1236534473/), with the rest of each package made up of pro-rated salary, cash bonus, and other compensation tied to the August 7, 2025 close of the Skydance-Paramount transaction. Shell, who departed earlier this month amid a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed against him, received severance terms providing $3.5 million in annual base and $1.5 million in target bonus eligibility for 12 months post-exit.

The PSKY disclosure follows [WBD shareholders' April 23 vote](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1437107/000119312526173660/d435468d8k.htm), in which 1,444,387,748 shares opposed the Zaslav package against 307,742,302 in favor (roughly 82% against), as detailed in our [coverage of the special meeting](/business-deals/2026/04/wbd-paramount-shareholder-vote/). The advisory vote does not bind the WBD board, which has not publicly indicated whether it will pay or modify the package. Institutional Shareholder Services called the structure "extraordinary," "problematic," and "inconsistent with common market practice," and Glass Lewis flagged its tax reimbursement as "a considerable and unnecessary cost to shareholders," [TheWrap reported](https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/warner-bros-shareholders-reject-david-zaslav-paramount-merger-golden-parachute/) ahead of the meeting.

The week's other public-record peg moved on regulatory ground. The UK Competition and Markets Authority [opened an invitation-to-comment phase](https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/paramount-slash-warner-bros-discovery-merger-inquiry) on the merger on April 13, with the public consultation period closing April 27. The CMA was explicit that the step is preliminary: "The CMA has not yet launched its formal investigation into this transaction. This invitation to comment is the first part of the CMA's information-gathering process."

What U.S. and UK regulators are now sizing up was quantified in March by [Reelgood](/companies/reelgood/) for Business, whose [data analysis by David Markowitz](https://data.reelgood.com/what-combined-paramount-wbd-content-library-actually-looks-like/) put the combined [HBO Max](/products/hbo-max/) plus Paramount+ catalog at roughly 53,000 content hours against Netflix's roughly 47,500, and the full Paramount-WBD portfolio including Discovery+ and [Pluto TV](/products/pluto-tv/) at roughly 131,000 hours — about 2.8 times Netflix's U.S. catalog. The CMA's April 27 close, the WBD board's pending decision on the Zaslav package, and any first response from Paramount Skydance to the comp vote at the company it is buying are the next triggers.

## Entities

- Companies: Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Skydance Corporation, Netflix, UK Competition and Markets Authority, Reelgood, Institutional Shareholder Services, Glass Lewis
- People: David Zaslav, David Ellison, Jeff Shell, David Markowitz, Samuel A. Di Piazza Jr.
- Products: HBO Max, Paramount+, Discovery+, Pluto TV


## Tags

- WBD-Paramount-merger
- executive-compensation
- UK-CMA
- shareholder-vote
- Paramount-Skydance
- Warner-Bros-Discovery
- merger-regulatory


## Sourced claims

- Paramount Skydance disclosed in an SEC filing on April 24, 2026 that David Ellison's 2025 total compensation was $63.2 million. — Variety, citing Paramount Skydance SEC filing: https://variety.com/2026/film/news/paramount-skydance-david-ellison-jeff-shell-pay-2025-compensation-1236730070/
- David Ellison's 2025 compensation included $58.7 million in stock awards, $1.41 million in base salary, $1.41 million in cash bonus, and $1.69 million in other compensation. — Variety, citing Paramount Skydance SEC filing: https://variety.com/2026/film/news/paramount-skydance-david-ellison-jeff-shell-pay-2025-compensation-1236730070/
- Former Paramount Skydance president Jeff Shell's 2025 total compensation was $60.7 million. — The Hollywood Reporter, citing Paramount Skydance SEC filing: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-president-jeff-shell-made-61-million-in-2025-1236534473/
- Jeff Shell's 2025 compensation included a $58.7 million equity grant, the same equity grant disclosed for David Ellison. — Variety, citing Paramount Skydance SEC filing: https://variety.com/2026/film/news/paramount-skydance-david-ellison-jeff-shell-pay-2025-compensation-1236730070/
- The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened an invitation-to-comment phase on the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger on April 13, 2026; the public comment period closes April 27, 2026. — UK CMA Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery merger inquiry case page: https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/paramount-slash-warner-bros-discovery-merger-inquiry
- The CMA stated: 'The CMA has not yet launched its formal investigation into this transaction. This invitation to comment is the first part of the CMA's information-gathering process.' — UK CMA Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery merger inquiry case page: https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/paramount-slash-warner-bros-discovery-merger-inquiry
- WBD shareholders rejected the merger-related compensation packages for named executive officers by approximately 82% on a nonbinding advisory vote on April 23, 2026. — WBD 8-K, April 23, 2026: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1437107/000119312526173660/d435468d8k.htm
- Reelgood estimated the combined HBO Max plus Paramount+ catalog at roughly 53,000 content hours, compared with approximately 47,500 hours for Netflix. — Reelgood for Business, By the Numbers analysis by David Markowitz: https://data.reelgood.com/what-combined-paramount-wbd-content-library-actually-looks-like/
- Reelgood estimated the full Paramount-WBD portfolio including Discovery+ and Pluto TV at roughly 131,000 content hours, approximately 2.8 times Netflix's U.S. catalog. — Reelgood for Business, By the Numbers analysis by David Markowitz: https://data.reelgood.com/what-combined-paramount-wbd-content-library-actually-looks-like/
- Institutional Shareholder Services characterized the Zaslav package as 'extraordinary,' 'problematic,' and 'inconsistent with common market practice.' — TheWrap, citing ISS recommendation: https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/warner-bros-shareholders-reject-david-zaslav-paramount-merger-golden-parachute/
- Glass Lewis characterized the Zaslav package's tax reimbursement as 'a considerable and unnecessary cost to shareholders.' — TheWrap, citing Glass Lewis recommendation: https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/warner-bros-shareholders-reject-david-zaslav-paramount-merger-golden-parachute/
- Jeff Shell departed Paramount Skydance amid a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed against him. — The Hollywood Reporter: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-president-jeff-shell-made-61-million-in-2025-1236534473/

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