Gunnar Wiedenfels is getting his own company to run. It will soon be open season for media M&A. Discovery+ and HBO Max are going their separate ways. Those are a few takeaways from Warner Bros Discovery’s plan to split announced Monday.

Said one top executive: "It’s a deal that never had a shot and shouldn’t have been done. But they’ve also done a terrible job.”

Monday's news that Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two companies has fueled chatter about which execs will end up leading the new entities.

Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting up after just over three years, and Wall Street is cheering. The spinoff will create a slew of new questions.

At the end of March, Warner Bros. Discovery had gross debt of $38.0 billion, which is comprised of “total debt” ($37.4 billion) and financial leases ($535 million). The 2022 merger of WarnerMedia (owned by AT&T) and Discovery, Inc. created more than $50 billion of debt.

WBD CEO David Zaslav will become president and CEO of Streaming & Studios, with CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels in charge of Global Networks.

‘We will continue to be very focused on efficiency,’ says Gunnar Wiedenfels, the new CEO.

Hollywood conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday made it official, unveiling plans to separate the company, in a tax-free transaction, into two publicly traded companies, “enabling each to maximize its potential.”

Warner Bros Discovery will split into two companies as Streaming & Studios will separate from Global Networks.