NBC boss eyes $30M+ exit deal from Comcast
Twitchell
General Electric has finalized details of Jeff Zucker's exit deal from NBC
Universal, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Zucker will leave "a couple of months" after Comcast Corp. closes its agreement
to acquire a 51 percent stake in the media giant from its current owners General
Electric and Vivendi -- with an exit package of roughly $30 million to $40
million, under the proposed exit deal, those sources said.
The Comcast acquisition is expected to close in early 2011 after regulatory
approval.
Sources close to the company steadfastly denied yesterday that any exit package
for Zucker existed. GE, in a statement, called reports of an exit package "not
true."
Nonetheless, sources tell The Post that Zucker has been telling friends that
such a deal has been finalized.
Just a few months ago, Comcast and GE extended Zucker's contract until 2013
saying he would continue as CEO of the newly merged entity, though sources say
it's clear Comcast Corp. COO Steve Burke intends to play the lead role.
Comcast, of course, can't make any management changes until the deal is
complete. Zucker has already been floating some trial balloons about his next
move, telling MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz
that he's interested in politics.
Details of Zucker's current pay packet were revealed by Fox Business Network,
which cited documents filed in connection with a $4 billion bond offering for
NBC Universal. (Fox Business, like The Post, is owned by News Corp.) According
to that report, Zucker is paid a base salary of $6.3 million with a minimum
bonus of $1.5 million and a possible performance bonus of between $2 million and
$4.5 million. Zucker has been with the company since 1986, rising from
researcher in NBC's Olympics department to the top of the tree in February 2007
when he took over as CEO from Bob Wright.
According to a GE's latest proxy statement, NBC Universal profit fell 28 percent
between 2009 and 2008; it was the company's second-worst performing unit after
GE Capital Finance, which dropped 73 percent during the same period.
Sources said Comcast will begin looking at organizational structures in
September. NBC and Comcast together have a surfeit of programming talent. Burke
will likely have difficulty keeping the present team in place once a new
hierarchy is established.
Another source said four of the top players are all making a pitch for the top
creative role.
They include Jeff Gaspin, currently NBC Universal Television Entertainment
chairman; Bonnie Hammer, NBC Universal Cable Entertainment president; Lauren
Zalaznick, president of NBC Universal women and lifestyle entertainment networks
and Jeff Shell, Comcast's president of programming.