Hollywood Executive Pay Soars in 2025 Amid Workforce Cuts and Shareholder Pushback

The top 18 Hollywood executives earned a combined $746 million in 2025 compensation, a 51 % increase from the $615 million reported for 2024. The rise is driven primarily by stock awards. The total excludes Paramount’s David Ellison and Jeff Shell and Starz’s Jeff Hirsch because comparable 2024 data are unavailable.

The Wrap

The entertainment sector entered 2025 still reeling from a double strike by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, a wave of productions relocating overseas for tax incentives, and accelerated AI adoption. Major mergers—Skydance-Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s pending merger with Paramount—have intensified cost-cutting, contributing to more than 17,000 jobs eliminated across television, film, broadcast, news and streaming.

The Wrap

• Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) – CEO David Zaslav received $165 million; median employee pay was $119,748, yielding a 1,378 to 1 ratio (or 463 to 1 when one-time grants are excluded).

The Wrap

• Disney – Outgoing CEO Bob Iger earned $45.8 million; median employee pay $56,932 -> 805 to 1.

The Wrap

• Paramount/Skydance – CEO David Ellison earned $63.2 million; median employee pay $57,004 -> 1,109 to 1.

The Wrap

• Comcast – Chairman/co-CEO Brian Roberts earned $35.2 million; median employee pay $92,390 -> 381 to 1.

The Wrap

• AMC Theatres – CEO Adam Aron earned $15 million; median employee pay $12,756 -> 1,174 to 1.

The Wrap

Across the 18 executives, average employee compensation represents only 0.2 % of CEOs’ combined pay. An ISS study of 318 S&P 500 firms found media-and-entertainment CEOs posted a median pay increase of 117.4 %, while sector median shareholder return fell 28.6 %.

The Wrap

The widening gap fuels worker anxiety as companies cite “cost-saving” rationales for layoffs. The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy highlights the disparity as a “crisis” that threatens housing affordability, food security and neighborhood infrastructure for working families.

The Wrap

Discovery shareholders rejected Zaslav’s proposed golden-parachute; the vote was advisory but signaled dissent. In 2023, Netflix capped co-CEO base salaries at $3 million and required 50 % of compensation in stock options, a precedent cited by critics. No executive publicly defended the 2025 increases in the source material.

The Wrap

Victor Sanchez, executive director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, proposes an “Overpaid CEO Tax” on executives earning more than 50 times the median worker’s salary. The initiative seeks 140,000 signatures for a November ballot and could generate over $500 million annually for housing, after-school programs, sidewalk repairs and local grocery development.

The Wrap

Compensation totals omit Ellison, Shell and Hirsch due to missing prior-year figures, creating an incomplete industry-wide picture. Pay-ratio calculations differ when one-time grants are excluded (e.g., Zaslav’s ratio drops from 1,378 to 1 to 463 to 1). No direct statements from the CEOs themselves are available.

The Wrap

• “massive inequality” — Victor Sanchez, Executive Director, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy

The Wrap

• “Working families are facing soaring housing costs, skyrocketing grocery prices and critical neighborhood infrastructure like streets and sidewalks falling into disrepair while the rich just get richer,” — Victor Sanchez

The Wrap

• “That money will go toward services working families in Los Angeles desperately need.” — Victor Sanchez

The Wrap

The proposed Overpaid CEO Tax will appear on the November ballot if signature goals are met, potentially reshaping executive compensation structures. Ongoing shareholder scrutiny and the stark contrast between rising CEO pay and declining shareholder returns suggest continued pressure on Hollywood’s leadership to justify remuneration amid industry contraction.

The Wrap