Comcast founder will keep getting paid after death
By Vindu Goel
Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 3:44 pm in Business, Comcast, Ethics, Technology, Telecom.
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Maybe Comcast founder and Chairman Ralph Roberts will be peddling Comcast’s Triple Play package to Satan and his minions in the afterlife.
That’s the only explanation I can think of for Comcast to sign a contract that agrees to pay the 87-year-old Roberts his annual salary for five years after he dies. I mean, talk about pay-for-underperformance — this guy won’t have to do a damn thing to collect his check.
Apparently the 9.6 million shares of Comcast Class A stock that Roberts controlled as of the last proxy statement — worth more than $176 million at Friday’s closing price — isn’t enough to keep his family out of the poorhouse. (And we’re not even counting millions more in deferred compensation and stock options his estate would get.)
Well, at least you know where your $2.50-a-month rate increase is going.
Maybe Roberts can arrange to give subscribers something in return before he goes. How about a free feed of EosTV, Germany’s new TV channel dedicated 24/7 to death and dying?
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December 28th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
This is exactly why I despise Comcast. It’s a monopoly responsive to absolutely no one. Spammy broadband, weak cable TV signals, unresponsive customer service.
Here we are in the Silicon Valley, getting vastly inferior broadband compared to virtually every other industrialized nation - and Comcast is out there paying an executive after he kicks? What’s wrong with this picture?
I cancelled my enhanced analog cable after a perfectly rotten incident with their service line. I watched my bill go from 50 bucks a month to less than $16, and I’m doing just fine with basic cable. When they (finally) go digital, I’ll buy only lifeline service then, too.
As for high-speed Internet: Comcast will NEVER get anywhere near my PC.