Ousted NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell Lost $43.3 Million in Stock After He Was Fired

Katie Couric has spent a good deal of her career getting to know those who walk the power corridors of the media business.

Katie Couric spoke out Wednesday against former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell and the workplace misconduct that led to his ouster in April, calling him “so stupid and reckless.”“Clearly someone in a position of power cannot be involved in a sexual relationship with someone whose fate depends on said person,” Couric said, speaking on Kelly Ripa’s podcast with SiriusXM, “Let’s Talk Off Camera.” “And so that’s why I was just so shocked that Jeff Shell would do this. And what is it? Is it kind of the power dynamic? Are they so surrounded with yes people, they think the rules don’t apply to them?”The lauded journalist and former anchor of NBC’s morning news program, “Today,” added, “It just amazes me that a powerful executive like that would be so dumb, just be so stupid and reckless.

The CEO of NBCUniversal parent Comcast said it’s “more likely than not” the company will end up selling its third of Hulu to Disney, after his Mouse counterpart indicated clearly last week that this would be Disney’s preferred outcome. There’s been some grandstanding over the past year as the deadline approaches, but both of Hulu’s parents appear to be on or near the same page now.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts addressed the company potentially selling its 33% stake in the streamer. “I think it’s more likely than not,” Roberts said. “I’m pretty certain if and when we sell our Hulu stake, it’ll be for more than what we have, and in fact, that’s contractually certain.”Disney currently owns 67% of Hulu with with Comcast’s NBCUniversal holding a minority stake.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In what may have been an highly unconventional job interview, NBCUniversal ad chief Linda Yaccarino hosted a discussion with Elon Musk about Twitter’s content policies and approach to working with marketers at an industry conference one month before Musk announced that he’d hired her as the social network’s CEO. The April 18 keynote conversation was billed as a talk about Musk’s “Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships” at MMA Global’s Possible marketing event in Miami. Yaccarino told Musk that marketers want “protection for their ad campaigns,” with content moderation policies ensuring that “provocative speech” is properly labeled. She applauded Twitter’s announcement last month to promote “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach,” under which the company said it will limit the reach of tweets that violate policies concerning hateful conduct and violent speech.

Twitter has a new CEO.

Wall Street Journal report that she is in talks to become Twitter’s new chief executive officer. “It has been an absolute honor to be part of Comcast NBCUniversal and lead the most incredible team,” she said in a statement. “We’ve transformed our company and the entire industry—and I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and grateful to my colleagues and mentors, especially Brian Roberts, Mike Cavanagh and the entire NBCU leadership team.”Since joining NBCU in 2011, Yaccarino’s team has generated more than $100 billion in ad sales, expanded the company’s reach globablly, helped launch Peacock, and made massive investments in data and technology capabilities.

In a potentially seismic change on the eve of the broadcast upfronts, word emerged Thursday evening that NBCUniversal sales chief Linda Yaccarino is reportedly in discussions to become Twitter’s new CEO.

Hadley Gamble, whose complaints led to the firing of ex-NBCUniversal boss Jeff Shell late last month, is leaving CNBC, the network said today.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Hadley Gamble, a CNBC reporter who ended up as part of the headlines involving the business-news outlet’s corporate parent and the ouster of its most recent CEO, is departing the company herself. “CNBC today announced that Hadley Gamble, Anchor and Senior International Correspondent, is leaving the company,” the network said in a statement. “Gamble has been a distinguished journalist for more than a decade for CNBC, undertaking highly visible and challenging assignments, and developing deep expertise in the Middle East and beyond. Her initiative and drive have secured valuable interviews with several world political leaders. We wish her every success in her future endeavors.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Coulda, woulda, shoulda? Ten years ago, Yahoo was looking for a “transformative” acquisition, former CEO Marissa Mayer said in a recent interview with Tech Brew. Among the targets the internet company was looking at: Netflix and Hulu. Yahoo ended up buying blogging site Tumblr for $1.1 billion in 2013 — which, to put it mildly, did not pan out as expected. “We looked at a transformative acquisition, and we bought Tumblr,” Mayer said. “At the same time, we were also considering whether it was possible to buy Hulu or, ironically, Netflix. And I think Netflix was $4 billion and Hulu was at $1.3 billion at the time. And either of those, with hindsight being 20/20, would have been a better acquisition.” (Netflix’s market capitalization in May 2013 was $12.7 billion; as of Friday, it was about $143.5 billion.)

Two-thirds of Peacock’s 22 million subscribers have watched a recent Universal theatrical film, the NBCUniversal streaming service announced at its NewFronts presentation Tuesday.

complaint filed by CNBC’s Hadley Gamble alleging sexual harassment, earned a total compensation package in 2022 that reached $21.01 million, compared with $21.6 million in 2021 and $16.5 million in 2020. The 2022 package included a $2.5 million base salary, $6.61 million in stock awards, $4.19 million in option awards, $7.5 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation, which represent annual performance-based bonuses, and $215,130 in “other compensation,” including $202,755 for Shell’s personal use of the company-provided aircraft.“As previously disclosed, Mr.

Jeff Shell, the ousted CEO of NBCUniversal, forfeited compensation valued at $43 million for 2022 after being fired for cause last Sunday.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The first rumblings about Comcast considering a major change involving NBCUniversal started this time last year.Now, in the wake of NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell’s abrupt firing, industry speculation about what may be in store for the network-studio conglomerate has gone into what-if overdrive. Maybe NBCU merges with Hulu to become a stand-alone company. Maybe the cable operations of Comcast and the satellite business of the U.K.-based Sky are separated from NBCU.

Newly interim NBCUniversal boss Mike Cavanagh has spoken out on the Jeff Shell shocker for the first time and said he’ll be in the post overseeing the entertainment unit “for a while.”

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts kicked off the company’s first-quarter earnings call by acknowledging the abrupt dismissal of NBCUniversal chief Jeff Shell last Sunday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Comcast said it managed to boost profit during its fiscal first quarter even as it navigated a dip in media advertising and slowing growth among broadband subscribers, yet boosted U.S. subscribers to its Peacock streaming hub to 22 million. The Philadelphia owner of NBCUniversal, Sky and its large broadband and cable business said profit came to $3.83 billion, or 91 cents per share, compared with $3.55 billion, or 78 cents per share in the year-earlier period. Comcast reported earnings per share of 92 cents after adjusting for one-time items Revenue fell 4% to $29.69 billion, compared with $31.01 billion in the year-earlier period, thanks to comparisons with a quarter in 2022 that contained both the broadcast of the Super Bowl and the Beijing Olympics.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Top Comcast execs made their first public comments on the departure of NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell Thursday, remarks that came as the company reported its Q1 earnings results. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts opened a call with investors by saying Shell’s exit due to “inappropriate relationship” with a subordinate was “obviously a tough moment” adding, “we are so fortunate to have a fabulous and tenured leadership team at NBCUniversal.” “When you go down the list, you’ll see many of them have been leading their divisions within the company for at least 10 years and are the best in the business,” Roberts said. “We are also lucky to have Mike Cavanagh stepped in to help NBCUniversal while also remaining president.”