Ralph Roberts Cuts Pay To $1

Shareholder Dust-up Could Be Catalyst

By Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 2/14/2008 10:56:00 AM

Comcast founder Ralph Roberts, perhaps bowing to shareholder pressure, requested that a controversial pay package that would pay his heirs at least $1.85 million annually for five years after his death be rescinded.

Roberts, who sits on Comcast’s board of directors, heads the board’s executive and finance committees and is a trusted adviser to his son, Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, has asked the company to lower his annual salary to just $1 per year for the rest of his tenure at the company. Ralph Roberts also asked that he no longer receive regular cash bonuses or equity based incentive grants. Comcast, in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late on Feb. 13, honored his wishes.

Roberts will still receive some benefits, including life insurance premiums that totaled $10.5 million in 2006.

The decision to amend the employment deal comes just weeks after one of Comcast’s institutional shareholders fired off a scathing letter to the company, criticizing management and mentioning Ralph Roberts’ employment agreement.

In the letter sent to Comcast in January, Chieftain Capital Management, which owns about 2% of Comcast’s outstanding shares, railed against Comcast leadership, its poor stock price and called for the ouster of Brian Roberts as CEO.

“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 in January.

At the time, Comcast said that it welcomes input from shareholders and, though it has had disagreements with Chieftain in the past, it would review Chieftain's suggestion and respond in due course.