Roberts, Comcast Execs Freeze Pay In 2009
No Base Salary Increases For Burke, Cohen, Angelakis
Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 2/13/2009 5:53:00 PM
With its fourth-quarter results slated to be released on Feb. 18 and the economy continuing to decline, Comcast said Friday that its top executives -- chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, chief financial officer Michael Angelakis, chief operating officer Steve Burke and executive vice president David Cohen -- have agreed not to receive any increases in their base salaries in 2009.
Roberts' compensation for 2008 hasn't been released yet -- that should come in Comcast's proxy statement, which is usually filed in March or April. In 2007, Roberts had total compensation of $20.6 million -- including a $2.6 million base salary, up from $2.5 million in the prior year -- down from the $26 million he received in 2006. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday, Comcast said that Roberts also amended his employment agreement, extending the term of his pact to June 30, 2010. Roberts also elected to relinquish his right to base salary and annual cash bonus continuation for up to five years after his death; and gave up his right to reimbursement and tax-related payments from the company in connection with the premiums for his term life and slit-dollar life insurance policies. Roberts' earlier employment deal would have expired on June 30, 2009.
Comcast is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter results on Feb. 18.
In a research report Friday morning, Sanford Bernstein cable and satellite analyst Craig Moffett wrote that he expects the cable giant to lose 116,000 basic customers in the period. However, the analyst predicts that cable-only revenue will rise 9.2% to $8.2 billion and cash flow will rise 9.8% to $3.43 billion.
