Comcast’s split brings former CFO Michael Angelakis back as CEO

Good morning. Comcast Corporation announced on Monday that it plans to separate its media and technology businesses into two independent, publicly traded companies through a tax-free spin-off of NBCUniversal and Sky. Comcast’s former CFO is returning to take a top seat.

Mike Cavanagh, co-CEO of Comcast (No. 37 on the Fortune 500), will become CEO of NBCUniversal. Former vice chairman and finance chief Michael Angelakis will return as CEO of Comcast. Longtime leader Brian L. Roberts, who currently serves as Comcast’s chairman and co-CEO, will remain actively involved in both companies, working in partnership with the CEOs, according to the announcement. The board and management team said that growing competition in the telecom and media industries has increased the need for strategic flexibility, and the transaction is expected to close in mid-2027.
Angelakis joined Comcast in 2007 and stepped down as CFO in 2015 to launch Atairos, a strategic investment company formed in partnership with Comcast, where he became chairman and CEO. Atairos remains focused on long-term investments in growth companies. 

Angelakis is Comcast’s “widely admired former CFO,” Roberts said in a statement. His “deep knowledge of the business and passion for technology,” combined with the Comcast management team, will serve the company as it continues to take bold actions to stay competitive, he added. 

In the CFO role, Angelakis helped lead Comcast’s acquisition and integration of NBCUniversal from 2011 to 2013. He will return as a strategic advisor to help guide the planned spin-off of NBCUniversal and Sky into a separate media company before stepping into the CEO role at Comcast.

Finance chiefs are becoming increasingly central to corporate strategy, and boards are noticing. In 2025, CFO-to-CEO promotions in the Fortune 500 and S&P 500 reached their highest level in a decade—10.26%, up from 6.5% in 2015—according to Crist Kolder Associates’ Volatility Report.

Warner Bros. Discovery (No. 126) offers another example. The company announced last year that it would split into two standalone businesses, with CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels becoming CEO of Discovery Global. David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, will lead the separate Warner Bros. company, which includes the studios and streaming businesses.

Comcast Cable is a leading U.S. cable internet provider under the Xfinity brand, while NBCUniversal includes the NBC television network and Universal Pictures film studio. In January, Comcast completed the spin-off of its cable networks—including USA, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel—into an independent, publicly traded company named Versant Media Group.

Morningstar maintains its $41 per share fair value estimate, based on its cash flow forecast for each business. “Roberts denied that this split is intended to facilitate additional transactions,” Equity Director Michael Hodel wrote in an investor note. “That claim doesn’t make sense to us.”

Angelakis said in the announcement that Comcast’s assets, customer relationships, and track record of innovation provide a “powerful foundation for the future.” He plans to “execute aggressively” and invest for growth while pursuing new opportunities to create value, he said.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com