Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav seems to be to channel Bob Iger

Hollywood is about to get a jolt of emotional intelligence.

David Zaslav, longtime chief government officer of Discovery, is now formally CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery — the fruits of a merger announced last May. The newly mixed firm started buying and selling on the Nasdaq on Monday utilizing its new ticker, WBD. The shares have been little modified at $24.45 in late-morning buying and selling Monday.

Zaslav is just not new to the media scene. He has run Discovery Communications as its CEO since 2006. Earlier than that, he ran NBCUniversal’s cable and home tv unit. (Disclosure: Zaslav helped discovered CNBC.) By way of the years, he is made headlines for his outsized compensation.

However he is by no means been a Hollywood government. Most of Discovery’s programming is actuality TV or nature-focused, resembling its “Shark Week” slate. Zaslav has spent a lot of the final yr on an all-consuming “listening tour” of Hollywood, getting ready himself for working an organization that features Warner Bros. studio and HBO, the properties of Batman and “Recreation of Thrones,” respectively.

Whereas his lack of expertise might concern some buyers, his distinctive mixture of expertise in veteran media CEO and novice Hollywood government roles will be the good recipe for the occasions, mentioned Lloyd Blankfein, former Goldman Sachs CEO who has identified Zaslav for greater than a decade. Blankfein labored instantly with Zaslav when Discovery hired Goldman to finance its merger with Scripps in 2017.

“It could be the suitable time for a brand new man as a result of the business is altering so quickly,” Blankfein mentioned. “In most contexts, expertise is a superb advantage. In a quickly evolving business, an excessive amount of expertise could be a legal responsibility. David is a reasonably distinctive mixture — an outdated media sort that is additionally a contemporary face.”

Zaslav wasn’t out there to remark for this story.

Zaslav has an opportunity to step into a task beforehand held by folks resembling former HBO chief Richard Plepler and ex-Disney CEO Bob Iger: the gregarious, high-EQ chief government who can connect with Hollywood expertise as a human being as a lot as a businessman.

Zaslav’s naturally inquisitive and modest persona ought to be a very good match for Hollywood, although it may be a chilly place for outsiders, mentioned Tom Freston, the previous Viacom CEO who has been buddies with Zaslav for greater than twenty years.

“He would not have the inventive chops of Iger and Plepler, however what he is acquired could be very excessive EQ,” mentioned Freston. “He is not going to come back in as an all-knowing man. He has large interpersonal expertise.”

The timing for Zaslav’s ascension could not be higher for grooming Hollywood expertise. Whereas Netflix leaders Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos are veterans, Disney, Amazon, NBCUniversal and Paramount World have all gone by way of management adjustments on the prime lately. In contrast to Iger, Disney CEO Bob Chapek isn’t known for his people skills. Outgoing WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar has acknowledged he didn’t do a great job communicating his resolution to maneuver all of his firm’s 2021 movies to HBO Max on the identical day they hit theaters in the course of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nonetheless, Zaslav must be cognizant of permitting executives who’re already at WarnerMedia to manage their divisions, mentioned Freston. Whereas Zaslav might need to take lunches with each Hollywood creator in Los Angeles (Zaslav moved to LA specifically to ingratiate himself with the leisure neighborhood), he’ll want to ensure he would not unintentionally alienate Casey Bloys, HBO and HBO Max’s chief content material officer, and Toby Emmerich, who runs the Warner Bros. movie studio.

“My recommendation to him has been, meet as many individuals as you may, however you do not need to disenfranchise Toby and Casey and the others who report back to him,” mentioned Freston. “Brokers are going to be throughout him. He will have to determine a technique to arrange a barrier the place it would not appear like he is shutting everyone off, however he additionally empowers his folks to make selections quite than overrun them.”

Zaslav additionally dangers getting slowed down in Hollywood minutia quite than specializing in working his firm, which has some important structural points. The brand new Warner Bros. Discovery can have $55 billion in debt, and that can likely result in coming job losses that would damage firm morale. WarnerMedia has already absorbed several rounds of job losses and executive shake-ups which have negatively affected tradition. Certainly one of Zaslav’s huge duties will probably be to remake a inventive tradition for a division that is been run by a telephone firm since 2018.

Zaslav additionally must persuade Wall Avenue that his firm’s streaming technique can compete with Netflix and Disney+ on a worldwide stage. He hasn’t outlined what that technique is but, and he’ll have to steadiness that with a legacy cable community enterprise that’s slowly dying however nonetheless brings in billions of {dollars} annually.

“Iger did it efficiently with Disney,” mentioned former Self-importance Truthful editor Graydon Carter, a longtime good friend of Zaslav’s. “David’s going to need to be entrance and heart in Hollywood for the few months or perhaps the primary yr. This can be a new administration, and he is the top of that administration. Then, I would think about he’ll take a step again as a result of he is acquired a number of issues to get carried out, and this firm has a number of issues that have to be fastened.”

Zaslav is called a connector of massive personalities.

One of many first issues buddies convey up about him is his means to intimately join with folks, even when surrounded by others. For years, Zaslav threw giant events for a whole lot of individuals at his home within the Hamptons on Lengthy Island, New York. He’d exit of his technique to invite folks from finance, know-how, media and different industries to mingle and community — and hearken to well-known musicians resembling Diana Ross, Rod Stewart and Earth, Wind & Fireplace, who he’d rent to carry out at his home.

“He’ll get meals vehicles exterior. One yr I went house with a full pizza in a field,” Freston mentioned. “He is a modest man, however throwing a celebration like these was a beneficiant act on his half that perhaps signaled his ambitions.”

He additionally makes some extent to ship unusually high-quality Discovery-themed swag to all types of individuals within the media and leisure business yearly. Buddies say they’re steadily stunned to obtain fleece vests, Bombas socks, popcorn makers and different plush stuffed animals within the mail annually in Discovery present baskets for holidays and particular occasions.

“He is the male Jackie O.,” mentioned Carter, referring to the late first girl Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

“He is one of the vital common folks I’ve ever met in my life. He in all probability needs there was a fourth meal within the day so he can meet much more folks,” Carter added. “He is like one of many guys who began Hollywood. He is snug on the market.”

Past Hollywood, Zaslav should earn belief along with his personal folks. One former WarnerMedia government mentioned the largest factor Zaslav can do is cheerlead. Letting Warner staff, together with prime executives, know that their work is appreciated and understood may be much more essential than including his personal perception.

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