Ralph Roberts, who turned Comcast into one of the biggest entertainment companies in the country, died Thursday night. He was 95 years old.
Comcast announced this morning that he died of natural causes in Philadelphia, where the company is now headquartered.
In 1963, Roberts bought a small cable television system in Tupelo, Mississippi that had just 1,200 subscribers. He used that as a launching pad for Comcast. He ran the company with a friend from Philadelphia, Dan Aaron, and an accountant, Julian Brodsky. He invested in the company, even though his wife thought the idea was 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 don’t do anything, so it didn’t seem very appealing to me,” Roberts said in 2003, reports the New York Times. “But as I began to look at what was happening, I realized the cable business was the best of all the ones I had invested in, and decided to go forward full boat.”
In 2014, Comcast had 27.2 million subscribers and made $68.8 billion in revenue. So, it wasn’t a crazy idea after all.
“Ralph was a born entrepreneur, a visionary businessman, a philanthropist and a wonderful human being,” Comcast said in a statement. “Ralph built Comcast into one of America's greatest companies and his vision and spirit have been at the heart of Comcast and our culture for 50 years. He will be truly missed. Ralph’s greatest love was his family, and our deepest sympathies go to his wife Suzanne and the entire Roberts family.”
Roberts is survived by his wife, Suzanne, of over 70 years; and their four children. As the Associted Press notes, his son Brian is now the chairman and CEO. He and his other brothers have continued to expand the company beyond just cable, as Comcast also owns NBCUniversal.
screenshot from Cable Center YouTube Video