CNBC Makes Change In Leadership

NBCUniversal said Tuesday that the long-serving chairman of CNBC would be replaced by a senior advertising executive at the company, as the leader of NBCUniversal’s news group continues to put his stamp on the division.

Mark Hoffman

Mark Hoffman, who has been the top executive at CNBC for 17 years, will be replaced by KC Sullivan, the president and managing director of NBCUniversal’s global advertising and partnerships business. Mr. Hoffman, who is CNBC’s chairman, will serve in that role until Sept. 12, after which he will become a consultant to help manage the transition.

Hoffman’s departure represents a changing of the guard for CNBC, the financial news network founded in 1989 by the former NBC president Bob Wright and longtime TV executive Tom Rogers.

Hoffman, who was named president of CNBC in 2005, long reported to Steve Burke, the chief executive of NBCUniversal. That changed in recent years. After Cesar Conde was named chairman of NBCUniversal’s news group in May 2020, Mr. Hoffman began reporting to him.

In a statement, Mr. Conde credited Mr. Hoffman for developing CNBC’s business over a nearly three-decade career and growing the network’s business in the United States and abroad. Mr. Conde said that Mr. Sullivan was “the right person at the right time” to lead CNBC, citing his experience forging partnerships with Sky Media in Britain, Italy and Germany.