Shell's Gamble Cost Him $43-MILLION

Hadley Gamble, Jeff Shell

Ousted NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell is losing a massive payday after being fired for cause following a sexual harassment complaint from CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble, parent company Comcast revealed in a Friday SEC filing.

The Ny Post reports Shell forfeited vested and unvested stock options with an “estimated fair value of $43.3 million as of the termination date,” the company’s filing said.

The fired executive “did not receive any supplemental payments or benefits in connection with his termination.”

“He will receive only his accrued but unpaid base salary and vacation time, vested employee benefits and reimbursement for any unreimbursed business expenses in accordance with his employment agreement,” the filing said.

Shell led the Comcast subsidiary since 2020 and was chairman of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment from 2013 to 2019. As head of NBCUniversal, Shell oversaw the company's studios, networks, theme parks and the Peacock streaming service.

In the federal filing on Friday, the compensation committee for Comcast’s board said Shell continued to build on progress at Peacock, which has been a major focal point for company officials of late.

Shell was was in line to receive a bonus of over $16.5 million in stock had he reached the "maximum level of performance."

"In 2022, when Mr. Shell led NBCUniversal, it continued its momentum in Peacock, which more than doubled its paying subscribers to over 20 million, and our theme parks performed exceptionally well, generating Adjusted EBITDA of $2.7 billion in 2022, the filing said. "NBCUniversal also innovated with new pay windows for early viewing opportunities to better monetize our media content and intellectual property. NBCUniversal’s financial performance was strong in 2022, with its revenue increasing by 14.2% to $39.2 billion and its Adjusted EBITDA increasing by 4.9% to $6.0 billion."