Flush with cash, Comcast went on a buying spree in the mid-1980s, acquiring part of the Group W cable system. In later years, he did so with his son Brian L. Roberts, to whom he turned over the companys presidency in 1990 when Brian was 30 years old. . Ralph Roberts, right, with his son Brian, who became president of Comcast in 1990. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.stonefuneralhomeupland.com for the ROBERTS family. Ralph J. Roberts, 95, the soft-spoken visionary who in 1963 bought a tiny subscriber-TV system in Tupelo, Miss., and built it into Comcast Corp., the nation's leading cable company, died Thursday night in Philadelphia. They are not your blood family, but you spend so much time with them, you should treat them like family. It is always business. Your entry has exceeded the maximum character limit. A Funeral Service will begin at Noon at the Funeral Home. "These guys go out there and kill each other!". "His vision was always to create a little IBM," Rudnay said. ''Ralph is tough,'' he says ruefully. He was 95. All rights reserved. The Roberts Family Remembers Ralph J. Roberts. Create an obituary. Comfort the family with flowers or a sympathy gift. "That culture says that you have to care about the people you work with. (66 years old). Though his father called Comcast a family business, Brian was the only one of the children to show a serious interest in working with his father. They have met at the investment bank Allen & Company's annual Sun Valley Conference for media heavyweights, and they got together last summer when Mr. Gates came to speak at a United Way fund-raising event in Philadelphia. Private. Mr. Roberts allowed himself an indulgence - the purchase of a farm in Chester County. ''The most dangerous thing is a son or daughter coming into a business where they think they get special treatment,'' Mr. Roberts said. Brian, born in 1959, was the fourth. ''The children -- the family -- have continual discussions,'' he said during an interview in which he was joined by Brian, dressed like his father in a gray suit, black loafers, a white button-down shirt and red print tie. "During this period, even before 1979 . "The trick," Mr. Roberts said in the biography, "is to make everyone feel involved.". He was preceded in death by his father, Joe Nathan Scott, and his brother, Jonathan Scott. To be sure, he adds, ''At an important fork in the road, Brian will go off to his father'' to get the older man's stamp of approval. OBITUARY Douglas McArthur ROBERTS April 10, 1943 - May 16, 2022. ''They are all billionaires, and they're fighting like crazy over another billion.''. He was 95. Luckily, the youngster had business smarts as well as enthusiasm. When I think of Ralph, it is always with the utmost affection.". DOUGLAS ROBERTS OBITUARY Douglas J. Roberts Of Candor Douglas James Roberts, 51, of Candor, passed away suddenly at home on Monday, May 9, 2011. In 2011, fulfilling the Robertses long-held interest in NBC, Comcast acquired a majority stake in NBCUniversal from General Electric for $6.5 billion; in doing so, it became one of the industrys leading content producers. Ed Rendell. He was always a stickler for table manners," she said. ''Ralph and Julian have been intimately involved, but Ralph doesn't sit there until 4 A.M. in the lawyers' offices anymore. For example, it was Brian Roberts who was on the board of Turner Broadcasting before Time Warner bought it in 1996, and it was Brian who was president of the National Cable Television Association's board in 1995. His parents Robert Max Roberts (also known as Bob Roberts) and Sara Wahl were both Russian-Jewish immigrants who became wealthy in America through ownership of a number of pharmacies, the most notable of which was in the Biltmore Hotel. "The amazing genius of my father is that there was not a one-size-fits-all for parenting. "He found the buttons to push.". This site is provided as a service of SCI Shared Resources, LLC. They both deserve credit for that graceful interplay, but the lion's share goes to Ralph," said Burke, CEO of Comcast's NBCUniversal. Besides his son Brian, Mr. Roberts is survived by his wife, the host of the Comcast Network program Seeking Solutions With Suzanne, aimed at viewers 50 and older; two daughters, Catherine Clifton and Lisa Roberts; another son, Ralph Jr.; and eight grandchildren. Comcast, a name Roberts coined from the words communications and broadcasting. It is a sign of a man who has given considerable thought to the future and has spoken to his other children. "Our city has lost a wonderful champion," Nutter said in a statement. Later, the two men found themselves in the same restaurant, and Mr. Roberts suggested that Microsoft consider investing in cable. So he made his own bid for QVC, with TCI as a partner, effectively killing the CBS deal. CANDLE HAS BEEN LIT CANDLES HAVE BEEN LIT, We are reviewing your submission. Make a life-giving gesture. "I never had a bad idea in working for him for 30-plus years," Roberts said. He felt, 'This doesn't have to be about me.' ''The father is open. There was plenty of room to give the son a shot. . Since I was 12, all I wanted to do was work with my dad, Brian Roberts said in an interview for this obituary. The 1990's have been far tougher, as regulation and skepticism about the industry's future in the face of rival technologies hurt cable stocks. He graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and served four years in the U.S. Navy. Sign up for service and obituary updates. ''All this would never have happened in the arms of a second wife,'' according to Mr. Danco. When she was 60 years old, Mrs. Roberts got her undergraduate and master's degrees in psychology and now works with abused children. Asked what it was like to run a company with one's father, Brian Roberts said his dad was a superb work partner, mentor, and parent. father . 2023 SCI SHARED RESOURCES, LLC. ''Deals like Microsoft and QVC would not have happened without Brian,'' said Steven Rattner, deputy chief executive of Lazard Freres & Company, who has worked with the family for about a decade. He was an icon, a mentor and friend to so many. Philadelphia became Mr. Robertss business base and the arena for his philanthropy. Messages run for up to one year and you In 1963, the year he founded the company, he created Comcast class B shares, of which there are 8.8 million, each with 15 votes. And Ed Snider, Comcast Spectacor chairman, said Mr. Roberts was "a great partner and an even greater friend. Then he turned the company over to his son at an early age. When not on the basketball court, Douglas loved playing cards, spending time with his family, and helping those less fortunate. NewsLibrary. He died on June 18, 2015, of natural causes. Loving father of Dennis Garland, D.J. Using the proceeds from Pioneer, he started purchasing local community antenna television systems which brought TV to people in rural areas,[2] which were then underserved by big broadcasters. Would you like to offer Douglas A. Robertss loved ones a condolence message? [2][3] Roberts graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and served a four-year tour on duty in the United States Navy.[4]. The soft-spoken, affable Mr. Roberts never acquired the outsize public profile of cable pioneers like Ted Turner, John C. Malone, Charles F. Dolan and John Rigas, but his impact was comparable to theirs in making cable television a culture-changing industry giving viewers hundreds of channels, where they once had little more than a dozen, and persuading them to pay for something that had always been free. ", Mr. Roberts met his wife at a dance in 1937 when he was 17, she 16. He was a killer dancer - the only thing he bragged about. He has five children, aged 36 to 47. "For me, the culture and comfort and chemistry have always been really important. The elder Mr. Roberts has made sure that each of Brian's siblings will retain an economic stake in Comcast equal their brother's. Mr. Roberts, who had been in declining health, died of natural causes. Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. After Brian received an undergraduate business degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1981, Ralph Roberts tried to steer him to another company, where he would have to fight his own battles. Douglas graduated from Holy Trinity High School in 1977 where he was an accomplished student, basketball & track star, and leader. Then in 1941, after seeing him twirling with another dance partner, she "grabbed Ralph, took him out on the golf course, and said, 'I want to marry you.' "Ralph served as a longtime member of the Penn Medicine board, and actively supported athletics, undergraduate financial aid, and his class." DOUGLAS ROBERTS OBITUARY Douglas J. Roberts Of Candor Douglas James Roberts, 51, of Candor, passed away suddenly at home on Monday, May 9, 2011. Comcast, with $68.8 billion in revenue and 139,000 employees, is the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet, and telephone provider to homes. ''Barry is very charismatic and hypnotic, but we were not going to lose our business and become a nonvoting stockholder of CBS to provide Barry with an entree to CBS.'' Let others know about your loved one's death. Dedicated to public service, Douglas elected to continue to serve his country after transitioning from the military by working as a Letter Carrier for the United States Postal Service for 35 years, eventually retiring from Wicker Park Station. He always treated me with respect from a very young age.". Help tell the story of your loved ones unique life. California residents do not sell my data request. He was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather and perhaps most importantly, a kind and humble human being. [1], When Roberts was five the family moved to New Rochelle, New York and then after his father died of a heart-attack, to Germantown, Philadelphia when he was seventeen to live with his stepfather Harry Bobrow, of Bobrow Brothers Cigars. In a statement, Mayor Michael Nutter remembered the business visionary and family man. In addition to his wife, he is survived by four of his children and their spouses: Catherine R. Clifton and Anthony A. Clifton, Lisa S. Roberts and David Seltzer, Ralph Roberts Jr. and Kim Roberts, Brian L. Roberts and Aileen K. Roberts and Diane Roberts, widow of Ralph and Suzannes son Douglas Roberts, who passed away in September 2011. "Ralph, the patient, unassuming gentleman, kept a steady hand on the wheel as they made a series of brilliant bets on the future," his son said in the biography. Suzanne Roberts. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Bob McGovern Questions? Overnight, it went from 18th to fifth among cable firms in the United States, with two million customers. In 1994, for example, Ralph Roberts scuttled a bid by Barry Diller, then the chairman of QVC, the home-shopping cable channel, to acquire CBS. Like many media entrepreneurs, Ralph Roberts created several classes of stock, enabling him to issue equity without losing control. Intrigued by the nascent cable industrys potential and aided by Mr. Aaron and Julian Brodsky, a Philadelphia accountant, Mr. Roberts decided to invest, overcoming his own initial misgivings and the even stronger doubts of his wife, Suzanne, who, he said, thought he was absolutely crazy., The cable business, you put up a tower, you run a line down through the telephone poles, you charge everybody $5 a month, and you dont do anything, so it didnt seem very appealing to me, Mr. Roberts recalled in receiving a television industry award in 2003. That's his legacy: not leaving his children wanting. Though Brian Roberts spearheaded the deal, Ralph Roberts played a crucial role in assuring the G.E. He told his biographer that his greatest accomplishment was that all my children speak to me frequently., Ralph Roberts, Cable TV Pioneer Who Built Comcast, Dies at 95, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/20/business/media/ralph-roberts-cable-tv-pioneer-who-built-comcast-dies-at-95.html. Roberts was born on March 13, 1920, in New York City. After leaving the Navy, Roberts held various jobs, first selling golf clubs, then working for the Muzak Company, and later the Pioneer Suspender Company, which he eventually owned. Once Mr. Roberts began building Comcast, Brian, alone of his brood, frequented the company premises. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. On ski trips, he would patiently lace up five pairs of ski boots. People who never had a financial problem in their lives can never understand what terror there is in that.''. Sign Up Today! Stone Funeral Home. He did this by encouraging free-flowing discussion, then focusing the issue with probing questions. He was a gentle soul with an infectious spirit who will be greatly missed. He was an inspiration to us all and we will miss him greatly.". I didn't want it to appear that he was just his father's son.''. Throughout his career, he remained at the core a salesman and merchant, but one who took chances and could "see around corners" to anticipate the next new thing. He came home each weeknight at 7 p.m. and left his briefcase by the door, along with business cares. At one point, Ralph Roberts met with Mr. Immelt without Brian Roberts. It shows the power of Ralph's influence, that he has been able to keep that feeling alive over 50 years," Cohen said. Ralph J. Roberts founded Comcast Corp. in 1963. Receive a notification when services are updated. Ralph Joel Roberts was born on March 13, 1920, in New York City, and was an entrepreneur from an early age. ''There is something about wanting to pass things on,'' he said. Only his fourth child, Brian, is at Comcast, the. Under Brian Roberts, Comcast has built on its standing as a cable television power to become a media and entertainment giant in content creation and Internet and voice services. Douglass Edward Roberts, 69, a lifelong resident of Swansea and the son of the late Edward Francis Roberts and Barbara (Douglass) Roberts, passed away on December 25, 2019. The 1998 Inquirer Executive Compensation Survey showed that Mr. Roberts was paid $45 million, ranking second on The Inquirer's list of the most highly compensated chief executives in the region. The deal would have relegated Comcast, the biggest QVC shareholder, to be a minor, and passive, investor in CBS, and the elder Mr. Roberts wanted no part of that. BigDaddy, as he was known to his friends and family, had a remarkable passion and talent for athletics. IT helps, of course, that only one of the children desperately wanted to follow in Dad's footsteps. Like crazy over another billion. '' Home each weeknight at 7 p.m. and left his by., alone of his brood, frequented the company over to his son Brian, born in,! One 's death they 're fighting like crazy over another billion. '' you spend so much with... 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