Warner Bros. Discovery’s top four executives – President and CEO David Zaslav, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, Chief Legal Officer Priya Aiyar and Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer Bruce Campbell talked up Netflix’s $83B deal to buy the company in its town hall.
Zaslav called it a “big day” for WBD.
The group praised the 25,000 rank-and-file staff for their performance and acknowledged all of the things that you’d expect them to acknowledge such as the power of its IP in the Zoom meeting.
The main question for most staff on the call was whether they’d still have jobs once the merger closes. Zaslav remained hopeful, saying that the intention is for Netflix to bring over “most” people.
It was the team’s latest of the morning, having earlier held a meeting for 150 of its top leaders.
The big headlines to come out of the town hall appear to be Zaslav suggesting that HBO Max will remain, in some form, after the acquisition, although he was scant on detail, and the fact that Warner Bros. Television, which produces shows such as Apple’s Ted Lasso, ABC’s Abbott Elementary and CBS’s Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, will continue to produce for third-parties, otherwise known as rivals, amidst Netflix ownership.
A hoodie-clad Aiyar also acknowledged the regulatory process, suggesting that it will be a global one that will take between 12-18 months. “The process is going to take some time,” she said.
Zaslav’s comments were similar to the letter that he sent to staff. He also complimenting the Netflix team on how easy they were to work with – helped by the fact that he’s been spending more time with Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos. He called the streamer an “exceptional” company with a “sustainable” future.
The former NBCUniversal man did accept that the process, which also involved Paramount and Comcast was more public that it would have liked.
The group also outlined some of the financial details of the deal including how the stock will work between Warner Bros. Discovery and Discovery Global, which is being spun out in the third quarter of next year.
Wiedenfels, who will run Discovery Global, said that it was an “emotional” day for all, acknowledged the sad part of the move but said that he had “enormous pride” in the company. He added that he’d be “lying” if he wasn’t “excited”, given that he will get the chance to run his own empire, after all.
Today is only the start of the process, it seems, something that Zaslav acknowledged when he told employees to “put your seatbelts on”.
