Comcast CEO Brian Roberts Sells $20 Million in Stock – Latest News
Comcast’s chairman and CEO, Brian Roberts, recently made a move that caught the attention of many investors. According to a recent SEC filing, Roberts sold around $20.41 million worth of his stock in the company on Tuesday.
The shares that Roberts sold, totaling 469,515 Class A shares, were actually part of his compensation package from earlier this year. This sale represents only a small portion of his overall ownership in Comcast, as he also holds all outstanding Class B shares, granting him a significant 33.3% of the company’s voting power.
Comcast currently has approximately 3.82 billion shares outstanding in total. The decision to sell his shares came at a strategic time for Roberts, following Comcast’s announcement of spinning off its cable network portfolio into a separate, publicly traded company that is expected to reach 70 million U.S. households.
This spin-off process, anticipated to take about a year, will be tax-free to Comcast shareholders. However, it will not include popular networks like Peacock, Bravo, NBC broadcast network, NBC Sports, Telemundo, NBCU’s local stations, or the company’s film and television studios. These cable networks generated an impressive $7 billion in revenue for the 12-month period ending on Sept. 30.
The new entity handling the cable network portfolio, temporarily referred to as SpinCo, is structured similarly to Comcast with a dual-class share system, affording Roberts a one-third voting stake. Despite this significant ownership, he will not have a presence on the board of the spun-off company, according to sources.
Keeping an eye on Comcast’s stock performance, shares have seen a 2% increase over the past year. However, year-to-date, there has been a slight decline of 1.6% and a 2.7% decrease over the past five years. As things continue to evolve in the media landscape, it will be interesting to see how this strategic move impacts Comcast and its shareholders.
