The studio and cable conglomerate that David Zaslav created couldn’t overcome outside forces and massive debt.

Monday's news that Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two companies has fueled chatter about which execs will end up leading the new entities.

He and Gunnar Weidenfels detail the blockbuster unbundling of WBD: Decision "reflects our belief that each company will go further and faster apart than they can together."

Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders just rejected CEO David Zaslav's pay package. Wall Street thinks a split-up of the company may be next.

Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted on Tuesday to reject the pay packages for several of the company’s executives, including CEO David Zaslav’s compensation package of more than $50 million.

At the end of March, Warner Bros. Discovery had gross debt of $38.0 billion, which is comprised of “total debt” ($37.4 billion) and financial leases ($535 million). The 2022 merger of WarnerMedia (owned by AT&T) and Discovery, Inc. created more than $50 billion of debt.

By many measures, Warner Bros. Discovery had a bad 2024. Revenue dropped 4.8% to $39.3 billion. The company posted a staggering $11.5 billion net loss, largely because of a $9.1 billion goodwill impairment charge that reflected the lower valuation of its linear TV networks.

The film and television giant will turn its cable networks, including CNN and TNT, into one company and its streaming and studios business into another.