Ralph Joel Roberts (March 13, 1920June 18, 2015) was an American businessman who was the founder of

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

, serving as its CEO for 46 years. In 2011 he served as founder and chairman emeritus of Comcast's board of directors until his death.

Early life and education

Roberts was born on March 13, 1920, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. His parents Robert Max Roberts (also known as Bob Roberts) and Sara Wahl were both

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

immigrants who became wealthy in America through ownership of a number of pharmacies, the most notable of which was in the Biltmore Hotel. When Roberts was five the family moved to

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state o ...

and then after his father died of a heart-attack, to

Germantown, Philadelphia Germantown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Deitscheschteddel'') is an area in Northwest Philadelphia. Founded by German, Quaker, and Mennonite families in 1683 as an independent borough, it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. The area, which is a ...

when he was seventeen to live with his stepfather Harry Bobrow, of Bobrow Brothers Cigars. Roberts graduated from the

Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

and served a four-year tour on duty in the United States Navy.University of Pennsylvania Medicine: "About the Roberts"
. Retrieved November 25, 2013

Career

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. Using the proceeds from Pioneer, he started purchasing local community antenna television systems which brought TV to people in rural areas, which were then underserved by big broadcasters. In 1963, he and his partners, Daniel Aaron and Julian A. Brodsky, paid $500,000 for a 1,200-subscriber cable TV operator in

Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo () is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. With an estimated population of 38,300, Tupelo is the sixth-largest city in Mississippi and is considered a commercial, industrial, and cultural hub of North ...

, called American Cable Systems. They incorporated in 1969 as

Comcast Corporation Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

, a name Roberts invented by combining the words communications and broadcasting. Roberts has been credited with expanding Comcast into the largest cable television company in the United States.

Accolades

Roberts served on the boards of the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscriptio ...

, the

Brandywine River Museum The Brandywine Museum of Art is a museum of regional and American art located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Brandywine Creek. The museum showcases the work of Andrew Wyeth, a major American realist painter, an ...

, the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, and the PENN Medicine Board of Trustees. Roberts received awards from the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the

Walter Kaitz Foundation The Walter Kaitz Foundation is a not-for-profit organization to further diversity initiatives within the television industry and in the media. The Foundation carries out studies, provides sponsorship's, partnerships and grants. They also promotes ...

, the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

of B'nai B'rith, The

National Conference of Christians and Jews The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

, the

Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

of Philadelphia, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

, and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He was awarded honorary degrees from both Holy Family College and the University of Pennsylvania, where he received their Joseph P. Wharton Award. In 1998, the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted Roberts into their Hall of Fame. The Suzanne F. and Ralph J. Roberts Foundation was one of the largest contributors to the restoration of the Alfred W. Fleisher Memorial Synagogue at

Eastern State Penitentiary The Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located at 2027 Fairmount Avenue between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd Street in the Fairmount section of the city, and was operational from ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

named in the honor of his father-in-law.

Personal life

In 1942, Roberts married Suzanne Fleisher, who was also Jewish, an actress and playwright, and daughter of philanthropist Alfred W. Fleisher. Her name appears on the

Suzanne Roberts Theatre The Suzanne Roberts Theatre is a theatre on Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts. The theater opened in October 2007 and is home to the Philadelphia Theatre Company. The theater was designed by KieranTimberlake, using the principles of Universal ...

in Philadelphia and she hosted a TV program aimed at seniors called "Seeking Solutions with Suzanne" on Comcast's CN8 network. They had five children: Catherine, Lisa, Ralph Jr. (Rob), Brian, and Douglas (who died in 2011); and eight grandchildren. Their son,

Brian L. Roberts Brian L. Roberts (born June 28, 1959) is an American billionaire businessman, and the chairman and CEO of Comcast, an American company providing cable, entertainment, and communications products and services which was founded by his father, Ralp ...

, is the current CEO of Comcast Corporation. Ralph J

Roberts made an appearance on TLC's reality series '' Cake Boss'', receiving a cake for his 90th birthday. He died on June 18, 2015, of natural causes.Ralph J. Roberts, Comcast Corporation Founder and Chairman Emeritus, dies at age 95
Comcast Corporate Statement. Retrieved June 19, 2015

References

External links

Biography
comcast.com
Profile
broadcastpioneers.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Ralph J. 1920 births 2015 deaths American corporate directors American technology chief executives American chairpersons of corporations American cable television company founders Jewish American philanthropists Comcast people University of Pennsylvania alumni Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni United States Navy sailors Businesspeople from New Rochelle, New York Businesspeople from Pennsylvania People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania People from New Rochelle, New York Ralph J. Philanthropists from New York (state) United States Navy personnel of World War II