Investor Says Oust Comcast CEO; Reaction Mixed

Stock down 43%, but problems are industry-wide
By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 19, 2008 9:43 AM CST
Investor Says Oust Comcast CEO; Reaction Mixed
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts gestures during his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)   (Associated Press)

With Comcast's stock price down 43% this year, a major shareholder has called for the  cable operator to give CEO Brian Roberts the boot. The proposal has met a tepid response, the Wall Street Journal reports. The call for Roberts' head is premature, say analysts and investors, especially given the current industry-wide cable slump.

Major shareholder Chieftain Capital Management Inc., demanding Roberts' ouster, called his decade-long leadership a "zero-return" "Comcastrophe." Other investors counter that the roots of many of the company's problems lie in the floundering economy and competitors' heavy investment in fighting Comcast. They contend Roberts' departure without a heir apparent would solve nothing. (More Brian Roberts stories.)

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