Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav moved quickly Friday to calm growing employee unease about job security, telling staff in an internal town hall that merger partner Netflix has explicitly expressed its desire “to keep most people” from WBD once the all-stock deal closes, expected in the second half of 2026.
Speaking to thousands of WBD employees via livestream, Zaslav described recent high-level discussions with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and other executives, saying Netflix views WBD’s creative and operational talent as a core strategic asset rather than a cost center to be slashed. “They don’t want to come in and just gut the place,” Zaslav reportedly said.
“Ted has been very clear: they want to keep most people. This is about building something bigger together, not about massive headcount reduction.”
The remarks directly addressed weeks of mounting “trepidation” inside WBD, where staff have been rattled by memories of the brutal 2022 WarnerMedia-Discovery merger that eliminated thousands of positions and entire divisions.
Zaslav pushed back hard on that narrative, emphasizing that Netflix’s subscription-driven, tech-first model actually needs seasoned content executives, marketers, publicists, and production personnel that WBD has in abundance.
While the CEO acknowledged some “inevitable overlap,” particularly in corporate functions and certain international territories, he framed the overall integration as additive rather than reductive. “This isn’t 2022 again,” he said, according to attendees. “Back then we were combining two very similar companies. This time we’re bringing together highly complementary skill sets.”
Netflix declined to comment on specific integration plans, but a spokesperson reiterated that the company is “excited about the world-class talent at WBD” and is approaching the merger “with the goal of creating the strongest possible combined team.”