Top Line
New data shows that pay for the CEOs of some of America’s biggest entertainment companies grew last year at more than twice the rate of the average chief executive of the country’s biggest companies, including Disney, Warner Bros., Netflix and K. Top officials were involved. Five other companies are making an average of $34.8 million in 2023.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was paid $49.7 million in 2023.
important facts
The nation’s five largest public entertainment companies—Warner Bros., Liberty Media, Disney, Lionsgate, and Netflix—see their CEO compensation increase by more than 20% from 2022 to 2023.
Lionsgate CEO John Feltheimer saw the biggest jump (284%) from fiscal 2022 to 2023 when his total compensation Earnings increased from $5.6 million to $21.5 million, partly due to a $10 million cash bonus which was $7.2 million more than the previous year.
Bob Iger was paid $15 million This is how much Disney will earn in 2022 after returning as CEO of the company at the end of the year jump That’s a 110% increase to $36.1 million when he becomes full-time in 2023 (still less than the $45.9 million he was paid in 2021 before retiring from the company for the first time, largely due to the decline in Disney’s stock prices).
of netflix greg peters In January 2023, he was made co-CEO of the company, a promotion that increased his pay by 29% to $40.1 million in 2023 (he earned $28.1 million in 2022 as COO and chief product officer).
Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts to make $35.5 million in 2023 (up 11%) Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei sees his earnings Salary increment 28% to $28.7 million in 2023, and Warner Bros. chief executive david zaslav $49.7 million was paid, a 26.5% increase from the previous year.
CEO of movie theater chain AMC Entertainment adam aaron earned after he and the company’s board agreed to $25.4 million (an increase of 7%). cut his target compensation His 2023 salary included $17.9 million in stock awards and a $6 million bonus — up 25% to appease disgruntled shareholders.
Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish and co-CEO of Netflix Ted Sarandos’ The salary was slightly lower in 2023, although his compensation was largely in line with what he will earn in 2022-bakish earned $31.3 million (down 2%) and Sarandos earned $49.8 million (down 1%).
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Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts will make $35.5 million in 2023.
big number
$23.7 million. According to this, the average salary of CEOs of the 100 companies with the largest revenue streams in 2023 was Salary Consulting Group Equilar, According to the data, the CEOs of those companies saw an average increase of 11.4% in compensation. Pay increases for entertainment CEOs nearly doubled, with an average increase of 24.7% across the eight companies mentioned above.
main background
Production companies and distributors last year grappled with a months-long strike by actors and writers and box office earnings that have still not returned to pre-pandemic highs. Dozens of productions were delayed and release dates changed for films like “Blade,” “Snow White” and Pixar’s “Elio.” pushed backMany by 2025. 2023 managed to hit the domestic box office $9 billion mark Just before the end of the year, however, many feared that the industry would not be able to achieve the milestone in the journey to pre-Covid sales. Early box office projections for 2024 have domestic sales projected at approx. $8 billionBut analysts have raised that estimate to $8.2 billion this month after a slightly stronger than expected first quarter. Disney added “moana 2” to the 2024 release calendar between the initial estimate and the April update, and Universal added “Abigail” and “Wild robot.,
tangent line
Streaming was the name of the game when it came to entertainment stock performance in 2023, though shares of many legacy companies are still well below their pandemic peaks. After this, Lionsgate was up 88% in 2023 eOne’s acquisition Another announcement from Hasbro will be this apart from starz this year, and Netflix benefited More than 60% on year. Disney shares remain largely flat in 2023 while Comcast and Warner Bros. Rose 26% and 21% respectively. However, as of 2021, Paramount is down nearly 90%, Lionsgate is down nearly 50%, Disney is down nearly 40% and Netflix and Comcast are each down about 20%. Warner Bros. Discovery shares are down about 70% from the peak at the time of its 2022 merger.
Further reading
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