In Hollywood’s first year after a double labor strike, top media executives included in TheWrap’s annual compensation analysis raked in a combined $522 million.
Topping the list for the highest-paid media executive in 2024 was one exited from his job in April: Paramount’s ex-CEO Bob Bakish, with a 178% increase. He resigned more than a year ago as controlling shareholder Shari Redstone pushed to broker a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance Media, which still remains in regulatory limbo. The majority of his $87-million package — $58.8 million to be exact — came from benefits associated with his severance from the media giant.
In order to have the same year-over-year comparison, TheWrap’s list excludes the $61.3 million from Paramount’s co-CEOs, who were new additions to the 2024 list. Without them, the combined comp figure came to $461 million, a decrease of 9% from the total $508 million in 2023.
Scaled back roles for Netflix’s Reed Hastings and Fox’s Rupert Murdoch contributed to the overall decline in comp, along with fewer stock awards for some executives such as Charter’s Chris Winfrey. What’s more, Ari Emanuel’s shift from Endeavor to TKO and newly private WME Group played a factor.
Across public companies in all sectors, companies were offering fewer stock-heavy “moonshot” compensation packages in the wake of legal challenges and investor scrutiny in 2024. Still, overall pay for chief executives at the biggest U.S. companies continued to rise in 2024, with more than half of S&P 500 CEOs making at least $16.4 million.
When it comes to the biggest gap between media and entertainment executives and their employees’ pay, AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron took the crown with a pay ratio of 974 to 1. Meanwhile, the lowest-paid executive on the list was Charter Communications CEO Chris Winfrey with $5.75 million, primarily due to the absence of stock and option awards — resulting in a staggering 94% drop from the prior year. Of course, that may change for Winfrey in 2025 after he announced Charter was selling to Cox in a deal valued at $34.5 billion.
Read on below for TheWrap’s breakdown of each executive’s pay package and how they stacked up compared to each other and their employees.
Paramount: Bob Bakish, George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins
Bakish’s package included a $2.6 million base salary, $15.1 million in stock awards, $10.4 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, $19,362 reflecting a change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings and $58.9 million in “other” compensation, which included $10,292 in 401(k) match contributions, $4,125 in profit sharing plan contributions, $5,550 in life insurance payments, $58.8 million in separation and continued medical, dental and life insurance payments; and $39,215 for personal use of a car service or driver.
Bakish stepped down from his role in April 2024, but remained with the company as a senior advisor through Oct. 31 of that year to help with the transition. As part of his transition agreement, he has and will continue to receive severance and benefits associated with an involuntary termination and remains eligible for enhanced severance protection if a change in control occurs on or before April 30 as a result of the Skydance deal.
He was replaced by the “Office of the Co-CEO,” which includes CBS CEO and president George Cheeks, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon President and CEO Brian Robbins, and Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks President and CEO Chris McCarthy.
The trio took in a combined $61.3 million in pay for 2024, when factoring in both their co-CEO roles and their respective leadership roles. They earned approximately $6 million each for their roles as co-CEOs, which included $3 million in bonus compensation and a time-restricted stock unit (TRSU) award of $3 million granted on Oct. 8. In June, they were also added to Paramount’s executive change in control severance protection plan.
Cheeks’s package included a $2.75 million base salary, $8 million in stock awards, $11.4 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, $18,117 reflecting a change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings and $14,240 in “other” compensation.
Robbins’ package included a $2.75 million salary, $8.1 million in stock awards, $8.7 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $62,059 in “other” compensation, including $34,024 personal use of a car service or driver.
McCarthy’s package included a $2.75 million base salary, $8 million in stock awards, $8.7 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $30,498 in “other” compensation.
The median Paramount employee made $129,102 in annual compensation, making the pay ratio 151 to 1 when compared to McCarthy, who is Paramount’s designated principal executive officer for SEC purposes.
Netflix: Ted Sarandos, Greg Peters and Reed Hastings
Sarandos’ package included a $3 million base salary, $42.7 million in stock awards, $2.25 million in option awards, $12 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $1.96 million in “other” compensation, including $36,782 for car services, $576,841 for personal use of company aircraft, and $1.33 million in residential security costs.
Peters’ package included a $3 million base salary, $42.7 million in stock awards, $1.95 million in option awards, $12 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $613,091 in “other” compensation, including $612,741 for personal use of company aircraft and $350 reimbursed by the company for tax preparation related to business travel.
The median Netflix employee made $215,503, putting Sarandos’ CEO pay ratio at 287 to 1 and Peters’ pay ratio at 280 to 1.
Reed Hastings, who recently exited his executive chairman role and will serve as board chair and non-executive director, received a $100,000 base salary, $965,039 in stock awards, $281,697 in option awards, $400,000 in non-equity incentive plan compensation.
Warner Bros. Discovery: David Zaslav and JB Perrette
Zaslav’s package included a $3 million salary, $23.1 million in stock awards, $23.9 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $1.9 million in “other” compensation, which included $17,446 for a car allowance and $991,179 for costs related to personal security for Zaslav at his residences and during personal travel.
He also received $813,990 for personal use of corporate aircraft, including family travel, and $16,249 for “tax gross-ups associated with business associate and spousal travel on corporate aircraft at the request of the company that is considered business use.”
The median WBD employee had annual total compensation of $130,316, putting the pay ratio for Zaslav at 398 to 1.
Perrette’s package included a $2.7 million salary, $8.7 million in stock awards, $1.9 million in option awards, $6.4 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $101,595 in “other” compensation, including $1,805 in basic life payments, $1,316 in disability/long term care payments and $11,885 in 401(k) matching contributions.
It also included $42,481 for personal tax services provided to Perrette as part of WBD’s relocation policy due to his relocation from the U.K. to the U.S. in 2022, as well as $27,784 for spousal attendance at company events.
Comcast: Brian Roberts and Mike Cavanagh
Roberts’ package included a $2.5 million base salary, $17.9 million in stock awards, $5.75 million in option awards, $7.5 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $200,483 in “other” compensation, including $190,483 for Roberts’ personal use of a company-provided aircraft.
Comcast’s median employee made $89,237, or a CEO pay ratio for Roberts of 380 to 1.
Cavanagh’s package included a $2.5 million base salary, $13.63 million in stock awards, $4.38 million in option awards, $7.5 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $255,162 in “other” compensation, including $245,162 for his personal use of a company-provided aircraft.
Disney: Bob Iger
Iger’s package included a $1 million salary, $18.25 million in stock awards, $12 million in option awards, $7.2 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, $495,142 reflecting a change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings, and $2,145,767 in “other” compensation, including $523,685 in personal air travel and $1.44 million in security costs.
The median Disney employee made $55,111, putting the CEO pay ratio at 746 to 1.
Fox: Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch
Rupert’s package included a $1.9 million base salary, a $2.3 million bonus, $6.5 million in stock awards, $2.1 million in option awards, $8.1 million reflecting a change in pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings and $233,098 in other compensation, which included $190,347 for personal aircraft use, $22,666 for personal corporate car use.
He is also entitled to “enhanced retirement health and life insurance benefits,” which increase the amounts available under the company’s broad-based, tax-qualified plan. Though Rupert transitioned to the role of chairman emeritus of the board back in September 2023, he did not receive any compensation for that role.
Lachlan’s package included a $3 million base salary, $9.35 million in stock awards, $2.75 million in option awards, $6 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, $904,000 reflecting a change in “pension value and non-qualified deferred compensation earnings” and $1.8 million in “other” compensation, which included $142,793 for personal aircraft use, $14,400 for personal corporate car use and $1.63 million in security costs.
The median Fox Corporation employee made $89,068, which resulted in a CEO pay ratio of 267 to 1.
TKO Group Holdings: Ari Emanuel
Emanuel’s package included a $3 million base salary, a $4.3 million bonus, $2.5 million in stock awards, $8.2 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $125,407 in “other” compensation, including $116,782 for personal use of a company-provided aircraft and $8,625 in 401(k) matching contributions. The annual total compensation of TKO’s median employees was $105,026 in 2024, making Emanuel’s CEO pay ratio 173 to 1.
Because of being taken private, the pay disclosure does not factor in his Endeavor package. Emanuel converted $173.8 million in equity to cash and rolled over ownership interests with a total value of $290.3 million in the newly private Endeavor Group Holdings. He also waived his right to a $25 million transaction bonus in connection with the sale of Endeavor’s assets.
Cinemark: Sean Gamble
Gamble’s package included a base salary of $936,000, stock awards of $5,849,984, non-equity incentive plan compensation of $2,995,200 and “other” compensation of $38,846, which includes $21,950 in annual 401(k) and HSA matching contributions, $8,655 in life, group and disability insurance premiums paid by the company and $8,241 in dividends paid on restricted stock and vested performance stock units.
Cinemark’s median-compensated employee made $10,152, making Gamble’s pay ratio 967 to 1. Many of Cinemark’s employees are part-timers.
AMC Entertainment: Adam Aron
Aron’s package included a $1.5 million base salary, stock awards of $5.44 million, non-equity incentive plan compensation of $4.38 million and $29,868 in “other” compensation.
The median AMC Entertainment employee’s compensation was $11,659, putting the CEO pay ratio at 974 to 1.
Roku: Anthony Wood and Charles Collier
Wood’s package included a $1.12 million base salary, $26.6 million in option awards and $18,848 in medical and life insurance premiums. Wood elected to forego an additional $300,000 of salary in 2024 as part of Roku’s supplemental option program in exchange for monthly grants of vested stock options.
Roku’s median employee made $255,499, putting the CEO pay ratio at 108 to 1.
Roku Media President Charlie Collier’s package included a base salary of $6.8 million, $3.8 million in stock awards and $18,848 in medical and life insurance premiums. Collier elected to forego $1 million of his base salary in 2024 in exchange for monthly grants of vested stock options.
AMC Networks: Kristin Dolan
Dolan’s package included a $2 million base salary, $2.3 million in stock awards, $4.2 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $182,077 in “other” compensation, including for personal helicopter travel and $115,313 for personal aircraft travel.
The median AMC Networks employee’s annual total compensation was $81,888, putting the CEO pay ratio at 106 to 1.
Charter Communications: Chris Winfrey
Winfrey’s package included a $1.74 million base salary, $3.76 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation and $296,510 in “other” compensation, including $268,997 for personal use of the company-provided aircraft, $20,700 in 401(k) match contributions, $3,510 in group term life premiums, $1,149 in executive long-term disability premiums and $2,154 in gross-up for executive long-term disability.
The median Charter employee made $69,829, putting the CEO pay ratio at 82 to 1.
