WarnerMedia CEO To Remain..For Now

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar — whose future has been in doubt since AT&T’s $43 billion deal to spin off its entertainment unit — will remain at the helm of the company until mid-2022, it emerged on Thursday.

The NY Post reports Kilar has told staffers that he will continue in his current role as WarnerMedia CEO for the next 12 months, which is roughly when the media company’s merger with Discovery is expected to close, sources said.

Jason Kilar

Kilar, who only took the WarnerMedia job last April, made the surprise announcement Thursday at a celebration of the one-year anniversary of WarnerMedia’s streaming service HBO Max, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news.

Kilar, who recently became eligible for $53 million in cash and stock options, stands to pocket his entire annual $2.5 million salary and his targeted bonus if terminated after two years on the job, according to to AT&T SEC filing in March. His severance after one year would have included unpaid salary and a prorated bonus subject to performance.

“My plan and my focus is to remain here in my CEO role at WarnerMedia,” Kilar reportedly said. “I am not thinking right now about post-merger. There will be a time to consider that topic in 2022.”

“I believe we have unfinished business and the work of the next year can and should be extremely fulfilling as the world continues to see what we are capable of doing,” Kilar reported said.

WarnerMedia confirmed the news but declined to comment further.

Prior to Thursday’s announcement, sources had said Kilar was negotiating his exit package following AT&T’s May 17 announcement that it would merge the entertainment unit behind CNN, HBO Max and movie studio Warner Bros. with Discovery, which owns TLC, Animal Planet and The Food Network.