Interesting indeed.
Mike Cavanagh Named Co-CEO of Comcast
Benjamin Mullin
Mr. Cavanagh will run the media giant alongside Brian L. Roberts, its longtime chairman and chief executive, in a clear sign of succession planning.
Comcast, the cable and media empire that operates the Universal movie studio, broadcasts “NBC Nightly News” and connects millions of American homes to the internet, said on Monday that Mike Cavanagh would be its co-chief executive beginning in January.
Mr. Cavanagh, 59, will serve alongside Brian L. Roberts, 66, the influential shareholder who has transformed Comcast from a family-owned cable company into a globe-spanning telecommunications giant. Mr. Cavanagh will also join Comcast’s board.
The appointment of Mr. Cavanagh is a clear sign of succession planning for Comcast, and the decision is notable in part because he is the first chief executive of Comcast who is not a member of the Roberts family. The company’s succession has been a family affair since Mr. Roberts’s father, Ralph Roberts, positioned his son to take over as chairman in 2004. The appointment underscores Mr. Cavanagh’s unusually close relationship with Mr. Roberts, with whom he runs the company on a daily basis.
In a statement, Mr. Roberts said he looked forward to managing the company with Mr. Cavanagh “for years to come.” Mr. Roberts will continue to serve as chairman of the board and retain his major voting stake, keeping him firmly in the driver’s seat for the foreseeable future.
Comcast has so far been able to avoid the messy succession battles that have engulfed some other major media companies, including Fox Corp. and Disney. The orderly transitions at Comcast have minimized the public perception of political infighting inside the company’s C-suite.
Mr. Cavanagh has had a steady ascent since he joined Comcast as chief financial officer in 2015. He became president in 2022 and has been a fixture on the company’s earnings conference calls alongside Mr. Roberts, mixing it up with Wall Street analysts during the question-and-answer session. The two consult with each other frequently, and one’s office is near the other’s at the company’s headquarters in Philadelphia.
Mr. Cavanagh has also been a key executive on critical decisions at Comcast for years. He took over day-to-day oversight of NBCUniversal after Jeff Shell, the division’s chief executive, was fired amid a sexual harassment scandal in 2023. He was also involved in the decision to spin out Comcast’s cable networks into a separate publicly traded company, Versant, a move that is expected to conclude before the end of 2025.
Mr. Cavanagh will step into his new role at a time of profound change for Comcast. By spinning off its cable networks, a hugely profitable but fading division, the company is betting that it can sell investors on the promise of its streaming and connectivity businesses, which includes shows, movies and connections to the internet.
Before he joined Comcast, Mr. Cavanagh was a senior executive at JPMorgan Chase, where he served as co-chief executive of its corporate and investment bank. He was part of a team that helped steer JPMorgan through the financial crisis, including its acquisition of Bear Stearns, a rival bank on the verge of bankruptcy.