Comcast CEO Brian Roberts’ Pay Rises to Nearly $34M, NBCU CEO Jeff Shell Hits $21.6M In 2021
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NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell’s 2021 compensation reached $21.6 million, up 31 percent from $16.5 million for 2020.
NBCU owner and pay TV, media and technology giant Comcast disclosed his and other top executives’ pay for the most recent year in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday. It was the second time that Comcast’s annual proxy statement, published on Friday, detailed Shell’s earnings. The company had tapped Shell late in 2019 to take over as CEO of NBCU from Steve Burke as of Jan. 1, 2020.
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In its latest regulatory filing, Comcast also disclosed nearly $34.0 million in 2021 compensation for its chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, up 4 percent from $32.7 million in 2020. He had made $36.4 million in 2019, $35.0 million in 2018 and $32.5 million in 2017.
Roberts made a slightly lower salary of more than $3.2 million in the latest year and got stock awards valued at $13.5 million, option awards worth $8.5 million and a performance-based bonus of $8.6 million. Shell’s salary also dropped slightly to $2.5 million, as did his options awards to $3.4 million. But his stock awards rose to $5.5 million, and his performance bonus jumped to nearly $10 million from $5.9 million.
Shell “continued to successfully lead and mitigate negative pandemic impacts on NBCUniversal in 2021,” the regulatory filing highlighted. “NBCUniversal’s financial performance rebounded well in 2021, with its revenue increasing by 26.1 percent to $34.3 billion and its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increasing by 6.0 percent to $5.7 billion, including Peacock losses.”
Peacock ended 2021 with 24.5 million monthly active U.S. accounts, which management noted was about 75 percent of the target it had previously set for 2024. The figure included more than 9 million paying subscribers. Management has said that it would step up streaming investments to further grow Peacock, which will lead to a possible delay on the path to breakeven for the service.
About Roberts, the filing noted that he “led our company’s strategic focus on connectivity, aggregation and streaming, which we believe will better position our company for the long-term.” It continued: “Mr. Roberts set the tone for our businesses to execute at the highest level, to work together across our complementary, high-performing businesses at Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal and Sky and to continue to accelerate convergence in media and technology and leverage our global technology platform. At the same time, he continued to guide our company’s overall response to the pandemic and reinforce our stakeholder and sustainability initiatives, all with a focus on doing the right thing for all of our stakeholders and society at large.”
Comcast, like many of its peers, had in 2020 adjusted its senior executive pay due to the coronavirus pandemic, with senior executives taking a 20 percent pay cut. Back then, Roberts, Shell and other top Comcast executives had also pledged to donate 100 percent of their 2020 salaries to charity.
In 2021, Comcast’s stock declined 2 percent, but outperformed many media/entertainment and telecom conglomerate peers, including Walt Disney, what was then known as ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) and AT&T. Its revenue rose 12.4 percent to $116.4 billion, with its net income jumping 34.4 percent to $14.2 billion.
Friday’s proxy statement also disclosed pay for several other key executives. Comcast CFO Mike Cavanagh earned $27.4 million in 2021, up from $25.3 million in 2020. Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson’s pay package of $22.7 million was up from $19.7 million. And Dana Strong, who was appointed Sky CEO at the start of 2021, made nearly $16.0 million in her first year as a so-called “named executive officer,” meaning a manager whose compensation is disclosed via SEC filing. Previously, she served as president, consumer services for Comcast Cable.
