CNN Chief Operating Officer David Leavy is heading back to Warner Bros. Discovery, two years after leaving the entertainment giant, TheWrap has learned.
Leavy’s pivot back to CNN’s parent company will reunite him with WBD boss David Zaslav, whom he served in senior roles for years before heading to the cable channel in 2023. His new role has not been disclosed.
“David arrived at CNN in tumultuous times and did a brilliant job stabilizing the company at a difficult moment,” CNN CEO Mark Thompson said in a memo to staff on Wednesday. “During the transition he led CNN jointly with Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling and played a central part helping me into my role as chairman and CEO before, as COO, leading multiple organizations and teams across revenue, promotion, operations and data.”
He added: “David fell in love with CNN from the moment he walked in and has supported and championed our journalism and our great brand ever since. He’s always been a voice for change and confidence in the future.”
Prior to CNN, Leavy worked at Discovery, where he was the chief corporate operating officer from 2000 to 2022. During his time at Discovery, he played a key role in the company’s stock being listed on the NASDAQ exchange in 2008 as well as the launch of Discovery+, its streaming service, in 2021.
Later, he moved to WBD, where he was chief corporate affairs officer for a little more than a year between 2022 and 2023.
Leavy will “spend the next month or so” at CNN “ensuring a smooth transition,” Thompson noted in his memo to staff.
Variety was the first outlet to report the news.
