Copyright Polygon
After stepping up in 2022 to manage a sprawling incarnation of Warner Bros. merged with Discovery, Inc., CEO David Zaslav became an instant internet punching bag. His cutthroat business tactics — from canning completed projects like Batgirl to threatening the entire operations of Cartoon Network — stood in opposition to the creatives he employed and the passionate audiences he served. He didn’t seem to care too much? People got mad. But, hey, HBO Max did change names twice and that was funny. Now, three years later, Zaslav is set to make his next seismic move that should sound like great news, but maybe isn’t? On Tuesday morning, the CEO put the WB half of his business up for sale in hopes of sparking a bidding war. This comes after the master carver declared his vision to split Warner Bros. Discovery in two. With the future of HBO, DC, Warner Bros. Games, and more in question, calls for the end of Zaslav’s run look more like a monkey’s paw wish. In an announcement Tuesday, the board of Warner Bros. Discovery kicked off a review of “strategic alternatives,” industry speak for figuring out whether to keep the company together or sell parts of it. That includes the ongoing plan to split Warner Bros. and Discovery Global into two independent companies by mid-2026 — a move, as Zaslav forecasted, is meant to make each side leaner and more profitable. It’s possible that by the end of the process, one or both pieces of the company are sold off entirely. Under the new structure, the studios and streaming powerhouses Polygon readers care about — DC Studios, HBO, HBO Max, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, and Warner Bros. Games — will live under the “Warner Bros.” umbrella. Meanwhile, Discovery Global will hold the company’s lifestyle and news assets, including CNN, Discovery Channel, and TNT Sports. But with Tuesday’s announcement, the superheroes and late-night cartoons are all up for grabs “in light of unsolicited interest the Company has received from multiple parties for both the entire company and Warner Bros.” Shortly after acquiring Paramount earlier this year, tech and media investor David Ellison declared his desire to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. Ellison made Zaslav and the WB board a reported $20-a-share offer, which was rejected, with insiders suggesting Zaslav was holding out for more. Tuesday’s “I just posted this thing on Facebook Marketplace, who wants it?” approach has struck the investor world as Zaslav’s counter. Whatever the case, whether it’s Ellison or another party, a takeover of WB would be one of the biggest media shakeups since Disney bought 20th Century Fox. For now, Zaslav’s team insists there’s no firm timeline for any sale, and no guarantee that anything will happen beyond the separation already underway. But Zaslav seems… done, which should be good news to his online adversaries. Still, for fans of Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, HBO’s prestige storytelling, and the few of us deeply invested in Green Lantern, it really just means more turmoil for a brand that already struggled to figure itself out. A new owner could straighten out Warner Bros. There are visionaries working under his expansive tent. But mass consolidation comes at a risk, for jobs and creativity. At the end of the day, this is about a company making money, not carrying the torch for a 100-year-old movie studio. "Our decision to initiate this review underscores the Board's commitment to considering all opportunities to determine the best value for our shareholders," Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr., chair of the Warner Bros. Discovery board of directors, said in a statement. "We continue to believe that our planned separation to create two distinct, leading media companies will create compelling value. That said, we determined taking these actions to broaden our scope is in the best interest of shareholders."
