NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Shell said he has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the highest profile media executive who has acknowledged that he has contracted the disease.
“I recently have been feeling under the weather and just learned that I have tested positive for Covid-19,” Shell wrote in an email to NBCUniversal staff. “Although the virus has been tough to cope with, I have managed to work remotely in LA and am improving every day.”
Shell became CEO of NBCUniversal in January, taking over for Steve Burke who has run the company for nine years. Burke remains on as executive chairman.
NBCUniversal has been reeling from the closures. Its film and television production has been shut down, along with theme parks. On Tuesday, the International Olympics Committee announced that it would move the 2020 Summer Olympics to next year.
Shell, in his note, said that the media giant, a subsidiary of cable giant Comcast Corp., has committed $150 million to help TV, film and theme park workers who have been idled by the coronavirus response.
“We are working to resume these activities as soon as possible, but of course not until it is safe to do so,” Shell wrote. “In the meantime, we recognize that a sudden halt to production creates a significant financial hardship for many. To that end, we have committed over $150 million across our film, television and parks businesses to help our employees and other workers, and to at least partially bridge the period before normal operations can restart.”
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