Comcast gave Brian Roberts a raise last year, but not as much as recently promoted co-CEO Mike Cavanagh.
Roberts, the media and cable conglomerate’s chairman and co-chief executive officer, was receiving compensation worth $35.15 million in 2025, up 4% from a year earlier, according to a Comcast SEC filing Friday. Mr. Cavanagh, who was promoted to co-chief executive officer of Comcast on January 2, 2026, was paid the equivalent of $71.76 million, about 2.5 times the $28.26 million he received the previous year.
Roberts has been Comcast’s chairman since 2004 and CEO since 2002, before the company created a co-CEO structure. His 2025 compensation included a base salary of $2,600,962. Stock compensation is worth $23.5 million. $8.58 million cash bonus. $290,466 in personal security services; personal use of corporate aircraft valued at $190,734;
Cavanagh joined Comcast in 2015 as CFO and was promoted to president in October 2022. In 2025, he will receive the same salary as Roberts ($2,600,962) and a bonus of $8.58 million. His compensation included $221,392 for the use of a company aircraft.
In addition, Kavanaugh was granted stock worth $60.34 million last year. This included a stock grant related to his promotion to co-CEO. According to Comcast’s filing, the board’s compensation committee “determined that Mr. Kavanaugh should receive an award designed to recognize his promotion and strong leadership and to further encourage and align compensation with stringent performance goals to drive long-term shareholder value creation.” Therefore, the company granted Cavanagh additional shares with a target value of approximately $35 million on December 19, 2025, with vesting for three years from the date of grant.
Mr. Roberts continues to own 33.3% of the combined voting power of the two classes of Comcast common stock. From 1990 to 2022, he served as president of Comcast, which was founded by his father, Ralph Roberts.
In a discussion of Roberts’ performance review by Comcast’s board of directors’ compensation committee, the company said he “continued to lead the execution of our strategy around the world, especially in light of competitive challenges, and has provided valuable long-term vision and stability.”
Under Mr. Roberts’ leadership, “in collaboration with Mr. Cavanagh, we successfully completed the spin-off of Versant, which we believe will enable us to better compete in the evolving media environment,” the filing states. Additionally, Roberts said, “As reflected in the promotion of Mr. Kavanagh to Co-CEO in January 2026, we continue to thoughtfully develop our key senior leadership talent and continue our commitment to driving digital opportunity, a culture of integrity and respect, and environmental sustainability.”
Discussion of Cavanagh’s performance cited his role in the Versant spin-off. According to Comcast, “he also provided strong leadership and strategic direction for our Connectivity & Platforms and Content & Experiences businesses.” In the latter, Content & Experiences “demonstrated strong execution of business and strategic initiatives, including box office successes like ‘Wicked: For Good,’ the NBA’s return to NBCUniversal, increasing revenue and reducing adjusted EBITDA losses for Peacock, and the successful opening of Epic Universe.”
