Warner Bros. revealed Discovery announces new hiring contract for CFO Gunnar Weidenfels as studio heads toward proposed merger With Paramount shuttered, pending current regulatory hurdles, his current contract is about to expire.
In a filing disclosed Thursday, Weidenfels, the future CEO of Discovery Global and a longtime lieutenant to WBD CEO David Zaslav, will receive a new contract starting July 11, 2026, replacing the current four-year pay deal that expires July 10.
Warner Bros. film studios merge and Paramount under one roof, combining the streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+, and creating what will be the largest lineup of linear TV channels in the country, which includes CBS, TNT, TBS, CNN, HGTV, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and many more, means WBD’s cable TV offering is not expected to be led by Wiedenfels.
But with the massive $110 billion deal yet to close, the executive was given a new contract before his current deal expires, and one with largely unchanged terms of the agreement. Wiedenfels will remain CFO at WBD through April 28, 2028 and will receive an annual base salary of $2.5 million and an annual cash bonus of 175 percent of his annual base salary, contingent on meeting performance goals.
Wiedenfels can also take advantage of annual stock awards with an annual target value of $10 million. With the renewal of his contract, Wiedenfels will also receive a one-time award of restricted stock units with a target vest date value of $2 million, on August 17, 2026.
WBD said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the new employment agreement is “consistent” with the terms of the merger deal between WBD and Paramount Skydance announced on February 27, 2026. Final compensation for WBD’s top executives when the merger deal closes has not yet been reached, but Zaslav and others are waiting to receive nine-figure payments.
