CEO Wright loath to leave NBC spotlight

For the man who dedicated two decades to building NBC Universal into an entertainment empire, the closing credits began to roll too soon.

Bob Wright had wanted to stay on as chief executive a bit longer.

But General Electric Co., which owns NBC Universal, is expected to announce Tuesday that 41-year-old Jeff Zucker will replace the 63-year-old Wright as chief executive of the media company. GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt was determined to have his own team running NBC Universal.

Installing executives in their 40s in top jobs is a hallmark of GE. Immelt was 45 when he took the controls in 2001 from legendary chief Jack Welch, who was 45 when he took the helm in 1981. Wright himself was 42 in 1986, when he was named to NBC’s most senior post. He added the chairman title in 2000.

At GE, an executive with great potential is said to have a “long runway” and plenty of time to make a contribution before retirement.

But Wright has no runway left. His departure was precipitated not only by Immelt’s desire to put a younger leader in place but several other factors that developed over the last two years, according to a dozen current and former NBC Universal executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject.

Wright is expected to stay on for several months as chairman of the media company and as a vice chairman of GE. But he will relinquish the day-to-day management role he had hoped to keep for another year.

Two executives close to Wright said he was not being forced out. Wright recognized that continued speculation about whether Zucker would get his job was causing instability in the upper ranks of NBC Universal. Wright agreed with Immelt’s decision that he should step down this month, one of the executives said.

GE and NBC Universal declined to comment.

But the tussle over Wright’s retirement underscores the realities of growing older in the corporate world.

“You give your life to this place and you don’t want to be turned out like that,” a veteran NBC Universal executive said. “But GE’s whole process is about process. It’s dehumanizing.”

For Wright and his wife of nearly 40 years, Suzanne, the early exit seemed harsh. NBC was more than a career, it was a way of life. The couple’s boat is named the Peacock, after NBC’s famous logo. Suzanne has a collection of peacock brooches. The couple’s Manhattan apartment is decorated with the fan-tailed birds.

Wright isn’t the only media chief executive who resisted stepping down at first. Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael Eisner didn’t want to leave. CNN founder Ted Turner has ranted for years about being fired from his operational role at Time Warner Inc. The 83-year-old Sumner Redstone says he’ll run Viacom Inc. from the grave.

“Their lives are so involved, so absorbed in their work,” said Edward Lawler, director of USC’s Center for Effective Organizations at the Marshall School of Business. “Their whole identity gets wrapped up in the job, and to walk away from that can be extraordinarily difficult.”

Under Wright, NBC never stood still. Early on, he saw the value of cable TV programming when other broadcasters were ignoring the small upstart channels. He pushed into Spanish-language media to capitalize on the booming Latino population in the U.S.

In 2003, he tenaciously pursued a deal with the French company Vivendi to buy Universal Studios. Wright could see that in the emerging digital age, owning entertainment content would be the holy grail and Universal’s vault of TV shows and movies was deep. At that time, NBC’s library largely consisted of old news clips. The network didn’t produce feature films and it didn’t even own the most popular shows it broadcast.

Wright and one of his longtime lieutenants stayed up through the night to close the Vivendi purchase, which GE executives, including Immelt, believe has been key to transforming NBC into a media giant less reliant on advertising revenue.

Still, over the last 18 months, Wright’s power began to erode. His grip weakened along with NBC’s ratings two years ago, when it fell to fourth place, behind Fox, ABC and CBS, from its long-held position at the top of the heap.

NBC’s comeuppance sparked infighting in the top ranks as blame was apportioned. The entertainment unit suddenly was no longer a financial standout for GE. NBC Universal’s contribution to GE’s profit fell to 10% in the last two years from 18% in 2004.

“The unforgiving focus on performance and unrelenting demand on results is a way of life at GE,” said Michael Useem, management professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business school.

Immelt was annoyed that NBC Universal executives weren’t taking the threat and promise of the Internet as seriously as he thought they should. “You could hear the frustration in his voice,” one executive said.

While rivals such as News Corp. were pursuing Internet acquisitions such as the social-networking site MySpace, NBC Universal embarked on an ill-fated attempt to buy DreamWorks SKG in 2005. Wright championed the effort, but Immelt didn’t think DreamWorks was worth the $1.5-billion price tag. News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch had picked off MySpace’s parent company for a meager $580 million.

Immelt “didn’t want to overpay for yesterday’s news,” one former executive said.

Although Immelt grudgingly endorsed the DreamWorks purchase, GE tried to drag out negotiations so the timing of the acquisition fit its window for financing. It told DreamWorks it was slicing $100 million from its initial offer. Furious, DreamWorks co-founder David Geffen accused NBC of reneging on its agreement and began negotiations with Viacom’s Paramount Pictures, which trumped NBC with a $1.6-billion bid.

It was bad enough to lose DreamWorks. But it stung GE and NBC Universal executives even more that details of the messy negotiations showed up in newspaper stories. “It looked like they didn’t know how to play in Hollywood,” said another former NBC Universal executive. Recalled a third: “Everyone had egg on their face.”

A few months later, in December 2005, Immelt was forced to mediate a management revolt at NBC Universal headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York. Immelt had dispatched his marketing chief, Beth Comstock, to NBC to head advertising sales. But two high-ranking executives, who have both since left the company, threatened to quit if they had to report to Comstock.

A truce was drafted, putting Comstock in charge of digital media. Zucker was elevated over all of the television business, including programming and finances, officially positioning him as Wright’s heir apparent.

Immelt “had to get involved himself and accept a compromise that he didn’t want,” said one executive with knowledge of the situation.

Tensions have surfaced recently over the Wrights’ use of his position, and airtime on NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, to promote Autism Speaks, a nonprofit organization that the couple established in 2005 after their grandson was diagnosed with the condition.

Some Wright supporters, however, have no qualms about such activities, considering the Wrights’ long dedication to NBC and the worthiness of the cause.

His reluctance to depart should come as no surprise, they said. “Bob would have never been ready to leave,” said a former top aide.

“That’s exactly what you want in a corporate leader,” a senior NBC Universal executive said. “You want someone with passion for the job.”

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The Wright stuff

1986: General Electric Co. acquires NBC and names Bob Wright, 42, as chief executive.

1989: NBC launches the CNBC business channel. Popular sitcom “Seinfeld” premieres.

1992: Jay Leno becomes host of “The Tonight Show.” NBC loses David Letterman to CBS.

1994: NBC secures prime-time dominance, becoming the most profitable network with “Must-See TV” on Thursday nights with “Friends” and “ER.”

1996: NBC launches MSNBC with Microsoft.

1997: “Meet the Press,” TV’s longest-running program, hits the half-century mark.

1999: “Saturday Night Live” celebrates its 25th anniversary.

2002: NBC enters Spanish-

language broadcasting by buying the Telemundo network.

2003: NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment form NBC Universal.

2005: NBC Universal fails in an attempt to buy DreamWorks SKG.

2007: Wright, 63, to step down as CEO.

Source: NBC Universal