The merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Ynon Kreiz, David Ellison’s right-hand man at Discovery, is getting a big pay bump from his pay packet as CEO of Mattel.
Kreiz, 61, signed an initial five-year employment contract with Paramount. On October 5, Paramount’s Warner Bros. It starts a day before it completes its $111 billion merger with.
Kreiz’s pay package for his first year at Paramount-WB (formal name not disclosed) will total more than $46.5 million, the company announced in a filing with the SEC on Thursday. This includes a one-time signing reward of $31.5 million worth of limited stock units.
By comparison, as Mattel’s CEO, Kreiz received a total compensation package of $15.1 million in 2025 (including a salary of $1.6 million).
At Paramount-WBD, Kreiz will earn a base salary of $5 million per year (beginning with the closing of the merger). He was also eligible for an annual bonus of $4.9 million. In addition to the RSUs’ $31.5 million signing award, he will receive 1.25 million shares of the company’s Class B Common Stock (the “pre-closing award”). Additionally, within 15 days following the closing of WBD, Kreiz will be granted RSUs with an aggregate grant date value of up to $5.1 million (prorated based on his remaining portion of his first year of employment after the closing of the merger).
Kreiz will receive an annual equity award of $20.1 million on the first anniversary of his hiring, according to the filing.
It is worth noting that Kreiz’s stock awards (excluding the signing award) will be granted in equal quarterly installments over a period of three years, subject to his continued employment with the company through the applicable vesting date.