Discovery and AT&T have determined the 13-member board of Warner Bros. Discovery, the new company that will be created through a pending $43 billion merger.
The board includes many existing directors for Discovery and AT&T, parent company of WarnerMedia and soon to be partner of the new entity. Samuel Di Piazza, who currently sits on the AT&T board, will serve as chairman of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who will lead the new company, will serve as a Discovery representative on the WBD board. As agreed in the original merger proposal last May, Discovery gets six nominee board members and AT&T gets seven. Well-respected billionaire and media veteran John Malone is one of Discovery’s key picks and has long advocated for the merger with WarnerMedia.
The current members of the AT&T Board of Directors appointed to the WBD Board of Directors will retire from the AT&T Board of Directors upon the closing of the Combination.
“I look forward to working alongside this distinguished group of leaders and benefiting from the collective experience,” said Zaslav. “This board brings diverse personal perspectives, strong backgrounds and invaluable industry knowledge. His management will help establish the company as the premier creator of impactful storytelling across genres and platforms.
The merger was approved last week by Discovery shareholders, removing the final hurdle before it could be completed. Only administrative and procedural steps remain, and the ink is expected to dry in early April.
Here are, in alphabetical order, the other members of the Board of Directors, whose terms will begin upon conclusion of the agreement:
Robert R. Bennett – director of Discovery since 2008 and managing director of Hilltop Investments, a private investment company
Li Haslett Chen – founder and CEO of Narrativ, a commerce and payment platform
Richard W. Fisher – former CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 2005 to 2015
Paul A. Gould – Director of Discovery, Inc. since 2008 and managing director and executive vice-president of the investment bank Allen & Co.
Debra L. Lee – a current AT&T executive, president of Leading Women Defined Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit education and advocacy organization; and Chairman and CEO of BET Networks from 2006 to 2018
Dr. John C. Malone – director of Discovery, Inc. since 2008 and chairman of the boards of directors of Liberty Media Corporation, Liberty Broadband Corporation and Liberty Global
Merchant Fazal – senior advisor to Sixth Street Partners and former co-CEO of Tanium Inc., a subscription-based global cybersecurity and IT management company
Steven A. Miron – director of Discovery, Inc. since 2008 and CEO of private media company Advance/Newhouse, and senior executive of Advance, a privately owned, family-owned company that owns and invests in media and technology companies
Steven O. Newhouseco-chairman of Advance, a privately owned, family-owned company that owns and invests in businesses in media, entertainment, technology, communications, education, grassroots sports and other industries
Paula A.Price – former CFO of Macy’s
Geoffrey Y. Yang – a current director of AT&T and founding partner and managing director of Redpoint Ventures, a global private equity and venture capital firm based in Woodside, California
