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April 5 (UPI) -- WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar announced Tuesday that he will step down as the company is set to complete a merger with Discovery. Kilar's departure from WarnerMedia was expected to come upon the completion of the merger, which could take place as soon as April 11, as Discovery CEO David Zaslav has said he intends to take a hands-on approach with the new company.
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"With the pending transaction with Discovery nearing close, now is the right time to share with each of you that I will be departing this amazing company," Kilar wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday.
AT&T merged WarnerMedia with Discovery last May to form a standalone media and entertainment company, Warner Bros. Discovery, and in February sold all of its interest in WarnerMedia for $43 billion.
Following the announcement, Kilar told Variety that he does not have "any grand proclamations" to make about what he will do next year but added he has no intention of retiring.
Before his time with WarnerMedia, Kilar was named CEO of Hulu shortly after it launched in 2007 and then went on to co-found and head YouTube competitor Vessel, which was sold to Verizon in 2016.
He was named CEO of WarnerMedia in April 2020 as it was preparing to launch its HBO Max streaming service and oversaw the launch of its "Project Popcorn" initiative that saw all of Warner Bros.' 2021 films launch on the streaming platform the same day they arrived in theaters.
