26 Aug, 2025
Mobile game developer executive outearns media, telecom CEO peers in 2024
The CEO and chairman of mobile game developer Playtika Holding Corp. ranked as the highest-paid media and telecom executive in 2024 due largely to stock awards, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
Playtika Chairman and CEO Robert Antokol's 2024 compensation package totaled $84.1 million, up 71.8% year over year from $49.0 million in 2023, according to a company filing. The Playtika executive, who did not receive any stock awards in 2023, was granted $38.2 million of stock in 2024. Antokol also took home $30.7 million in nonequity incentive plan compensation and a $13.7 million bonus.
The Playtika board's compensation committee approved the issuance of performance stock units and restricted stock units to Antokol and other named executive officers in December 2024, in line with the company's performance goals set out in Playtika's 2020 incentive award plan.
The 2024 awards followed the closing of Playtika's biggest acquisition to date: its $1.94 billion deal to acquire fellow mobile game developer Superplay Ltd.
– Browse through the details of the 2024 list of highest-paid S&P 500 CEOs.
– Learn more about the compensation details of Playtika's directors and executives on S&P Capital IQ Pro.
Stock awards also comprised the bulk of the pay of Netflix Inc.
Sarandos' total compensation rose 24.3% year over year to $61.9 million, while Peters' pay package increased 50.2% to $60.3 million. Each executive received $42.7 million in stock awards, $12.0 million in nonequity incentive plan compensation and a base salary of $3.0 million. Both executives also received option awards, with Sarandos receiving $2.3 million and Peters receiving $2.0 million.
Peters became Netflix's co-CEO in January 2023.
Netflix updated its executive pay structure in 2024 in response to shareholder concerns, eliminating top executives' ability to allocate their compensation between cash and stock options. Other changes included fixing base salaries for the top executives, reducing target bonuses for the co-CEOS, and introducing performance stock units and restricted stock units, both of which have target award values tied to performance targets.
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. CEO David Zaslav was the fourth-highest-paid media and telecom CEO with $51.9 million in total pay, up 4.5% year over year. Zaslav's compensation included $3.0 million in salary, $23.1 million in stock awards and $23.9 million in nonequity incentive plan compensation.
Zaslav is expected to see a "significantly reduced" target annual pay package following Warner Bros. Discovery's planned corporate split in 2026. The changes, made in response to stockholder feedback, include lowering annual cash compensation and reorienting the executive's total pay mix toward long-term incentives.
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. CEO Devin Nunes received a sizable stock award that pushed his total pay in 2024 up 6,151.1% year over year to $46.9 million. The award made Nunes the fifth-highest-paid CEO among media and telecom peers.
Nunes' compensation mix included $44.1 million in stock awards that were granted in November 2024, compared to none in 2023. Nunes also received $2.2 million in cash compensation and a $600,000 bonus paid in line with the closing of Trump Media's merger with then-special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp. in March 2024. The transaction allowed Trump Media to go public.
Trump Media operates social media platform Truth Social, streaming platform Truth+ and fintech platform Truth.Fi. The company seeks to diversify through acquiring businesses that would benefit from its brand and online visibility.
Nunes, a former Republican representative from California who was named Trump Media's CEO in 2022, ranked second behind System1 Inc. CEO Michael Blend in terms of percentage change in total adjusted compensation between 2023 and 2024.
Blend received stock appreciation rights worth $2.4 million in 2024, compared with zero stock awards in 2023. This represented the vast majority of the executive's total compensation, which did not include any cash compensation but did include the value of his health and welfare benefit premiums. Blend also did not receive any cash compensation in 2023.
Due to the stock award in 2024, Blend's total compensation rose 6,442.2% year over year, marking the largest compensation percentage change among top media and telecom CEOs that year.