Who Really Makes BANK in HWD

'There's no biz like show biz', and that's especially true for the men (no women, as yet) who rule giant media. These media moguls are virtually unknown to the public.

Recognize these guys?

Walking down a crowded street in LA or NYC they would never be noticed, but these are the people that control what we all see, hear, and experience on a day-in-day out basis.

They are oblivious to social concerns and are driven by the bottom-line. What motivates them?  Their compensation and as you'll see it is quite substantial.
Collectively the 8 top media execs made $394m in 2018 or $49m on average. That's the equivalent to 640 years pay for the average U.S. worker.

The question is: Do these guys possess that unique a skill-set to warrant their compensation?
It was once the norm that compensation was based upon the performance of the company, but, alas, that formula didn't always work in favor of the CEOs so its been scrapped. Now execs are paid by crafting deals such as merger and acquisitions: AT&T buys Warners, Disney acquires Fox assets, etc.

What The Guys Banked Last Year 

AT&T  Randall Stevens  $29m + $7.4m bonus

Stevens

 2018 Shareholder return:  - 22.3%
One of the lowest paid in terms of compensation. But of course shareholders didn't fair to well.



CBS  Joseph Ianniello  $27m + $23m bonus
          2018 Shareholder return:  - 24.9%

Ianniello

Took the reins at CBS after Les Moonves was ousted for sexual harassment charges. Moonves made
$47m for his 8 months of work and is entitled to an additional $120m, which is being arbitrated.

Roberts

Comcast  Brian Roberts  $35m + $85m in stock options which now total $2b.
2018 Shareholder return:  - 12.7%
No house-hold name, Roberts manages cable giant, Universal studios, and vast media holdings.

Zaslav

Discovery  David Zaslav  $130m salary + bonus
2018 Shareholder return:  + 10.5%
Received incentive bonus to persuade him to stay on as CEO through 2023. One of highest paid.

Iger

Disney  Bob Iger $66m + $12m bonus
2018 Shareholder return:  +20.6%
Highly paid. Was to retire two years ago but was coerced to remain as CEO.

Hastings

Netflix  Reed Hastings  $36m
2018 Shareholder return:  +39.4%
No extra perks but benefits from stock options. As co-founder his ownership stake stands at $3.7b

murdoch

Fox   Rupert Murdoch  $49m
2018 Shareholder return: 78.3%
Disney deal "delivered incomparable value to shareholders".

Bakish

Viacom   Bob Bakish  $20m + 9.4m bonus
2018 Shareholder return: 24.5%
One of the lower compensated but still not too shabby.





Who makes the big bucks in HWD? It's the illusive helmers that function below the social radar that their companies control.

Jim Lavorato, President
Entertainment Equipment Corp.