In a major move atop one of the world’s largest entertainment companies, Comcast has named Mike Cavanagh co-CEO, joining Brian Roberts atop his family’s communications conglomerate.
Cavanagh was most recently president of the company, and also effectively ran NBCUniversal, with all of the media company’s executives reporting to him. He joined Comcast as CFO in 2015.
Cavanagh’s elevation will be effective Jan. 1, at which time he will also join the Comcast board of directors. Roberts will remain as chairman and co-CEO.
“Since joining Comcast a decade ago, Mike has proven himself to be a trusted and collaborative leader,” said Roberts in a statement. “He is the ideal person to help lead Comcast as we manage the pivot we are making to drive growth across the company. Mike and I work seamlessly together, and I am thrilled to be partnering with him as Co-CEO and with the rest of our talented management team, for years to come.”
“Comcast is a special company with exceptional businesses and an incredible team. It is an honor to work with Brian and the entire Comcast NBCUniversal leadership team during this exciting and transformative time in our industry,” added Cavanagh.
The elevation of Cavanagh is unusual in that Comcast is a family-controlled company, having been founded by Brian Roberts’ father Ralph Roberts more than 60 years ago. Brian succeeded his father atop the company in 1990. Brian Roberts’ son Tucker Roberts is also an employee of Comcast, in its Spectator division, which owns the Philadelphia Flyers NHL team and the Wells Fargo Center.
That said, it is not unusual for controlled by companies to elevate executives to run them day to day. Paramount and its predecessors, under both Sumner Redstone and Shari Redstone, relied on professional CEOs to run the companies, while the Murdoch family turns to Robert Thomson to run News Corp.
And while the co-CEO structure is unusual, it is not unprecedented. Netflix, of course, has had a co-CEO since Ted Sarandos was elevated to lead the company alongside Reed Hastings.