David Leavy, a longtime advisor to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, announced his exit after more than two decades at the company. He will leave at the end of 2025.
The executive started at Discovery in 2000 as its chief corporate operating officer. After over 20 years in that position, Leavy became the chief operating officer of CNN from 2023 to summer 2025. The last few months he served in a less defined role inside WBD.
“As the company goes through its next iteration of structure and strategy, and after 25 years at this wonderful organization, it feels like the right time to do the same,” Leavy said in a note to staffers, according to media reports.
“When I first joined in 2000, Discovery was based in Bethesda, MD, as a small privately held cable company with a few networks and websites … but it did have really smart and dedicated people with very grand ambitions … and to witness the company’s extraordinary evolution and global growth over the past 25 years has been incredible,” he continued. “That story continues to be written in real time with the next great chapter in ’26 and beyond. I will be cheering loudly for the best outcomes for WBD with all the amazing stories it tells every day, and all the world-class people that work here.”
During his 20 years at Discovery, he oversaw the growth of the company’s unscripted documentary and reality TV programming and later helped expand its media footprint through the acquisitions of Scripps Networks and WarnerMedia.
He transitioned to CNN in 2023 under then-CEO Chris Licht as part of David Zaslav’s strategy to further integrate Discovery’s properties with WarnerMedia’s news outlets.
“David had a terrific 25-year run at Discovery and WBD,” Zaslav said. “David is both a great person and an outstanding executive, and I’m confident this is the right moment for him to take the next step in his career and life. Wherever he goes, he will bring leadership, strategic drive and just a collaborative spirit that always leads to good things happening.”
His exit comes as WBD sells to Netflix. WBD doubled down on their commitment to Netflix, rejecting the Ellisons and Paramount’s $108 billion hostile takeover bid. Zaslav even gave Netflix CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters a tour of the Warner Bros. studio lot.
