Comcast hires former JPMorgan executive

Comcast Corp. has hired Michael J. Cavanagh - a top Wall Street executive and former protégé of JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon - as its chief financial officer and senior executive vice president.

Cavanagh, 49, quit JPMorgan, one of the largest U.S. banks based on assets, in early 2014 as part of an exodus of top executives after heightened regulatory scrutiny of Dimon and the bank.

Over the last year, Cavanagh has served as copresident and co-chief operating officer of the private equity firm Carlyle Group, which manages $193 billion in assets globally.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said he was "thrilled" that Cavanagh had accepted the job, which historically has been one of the most influential at the Philadelphia company.

Cavanagh is expected to start his new job no later than July 6.

John Tinker, senior media and Internet analyst at Maxim Group L.L.C., said that Comcast had hired a "brand name" in Cavanagh and that his assignment would be balancing Comcast's financial flexibility, setting stock buyback levels, and positioning the company for its next big deal.

"This is a forward-looking company and it will be figuring things out," Tinker said.

Comcast abandoned its proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc. for $45 billion in April after U.S. regulators said they opposed it.

A Comcast filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday said that Comcast agreed to pay Cavanagh $22.5 million in a signing bonus, deferred compensation, and performance-based pay.

He also signed an employment contract through Dec. 31, 2019, and will be paid $1.8 million in base compensation for 2015, the filing said.

Cavanagh fills the shoes of Michael Angelakis, Comcast's vice chairman and CFO, who announced in March that he was resigning to head a new Comcast-backed $4 billion investment venture.

Angelakis is considered a brilliant deal-maker who negotiated Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in the depths of the last financial crisis, as well as its now-failed deal with Time Warner Cable in early 2014.

The NBCUniversal acquisition in 2011 transformed Comcast by diversifying its assets into entertainment content and news.

Angelakis, an entrepreneurial executive who had been recruited to Comcast from a private equity firm, is expected to run the Comcast-backed investment company in Philadelphia.

"Comcast is an exceptional company that is well-positioned to win in the rapidly evolving media and technology industries," Cavanagh said in a statement. "The opportunity to work closely with Brian [Roberts] and one of the best management teams I've come across in any industry was something I could not pass up."

In addition to CFO, Cavanagh will hold the title of senior vice president.

Roberts called him "a world-class executive with significant experience leading and overseeing large companies with multiple complex businesses."

"He has had a distinguished career that spans more than two decades, is incredibly talented, and will be a great leader for Comcast," Roberts said.