Ralph’s Reversal
by Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 2/17/2008 7:00:00 PM
The Setting: Comcast revealed on Dec. 28 in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that an employment deal with founder Ralph Roberts would allow his wife or estate to continue to receive his annual salary ($1.85 million in 2006) for five years after his death.
The Backlash: In its letter to Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, which called for Brian’s ouster, Chieftain Capital Partners (which owns about 2% of Comcast’s outstanding shares) criticized Ralph Roberts’s deal — “The fact that you pay over $20 million per year to Ralph Roberts, and just agreed to pay Ralph’s salary long after his death, speaks volumes about your lack of interest in representing shareholders,” Chieftain wrote.
The Result: Perhaps partly in response to the Chieftain criticism, Comcast filed documents with the SEC on Feb. 13 stating that Ralph Roberts has requested that his employment deal be changed. Now the Comcast founder will receive $1 per year in salary for the rest of his tenure at the company and will no longer receive regular cash bonuses or annual equity based grants. The death benefit also was eliminated. Comcast will continue to pay Ralph Roberts other benefits, including life insurance premiums that totaled $10.5 million in 2006.
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