The former boss of NBCUniversal will not get a $43million stock award after being fired for having an inappropriate relationship with a CNBC anchor.
Jeff Shell, 57, will miss out on the huge sum because of his years-long affair with Hadley Gamble, 41, who has accused him of sexual harassment.
Tech giant Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, said the reward was ‘forfeited and canceled’ due to the scandal.
Shell left his role at the company after an investigation into his conduct was launched around a month ago.
NBCUniversal did not say who had made the complaint, but reports suggested it was Gamble following their on-off relationship that ended a few years ago.
Comcast disclosed in a filing on Friday: ‘Upon his termination, all unvested PSUs and RSUs and all vested and unvested stock options, which had an estimated fair value of $43.3 million as of the termination date, were forfeited and canceled.’
![Shell, who is married to Laura Fay Shell (left), admitted he had had an 'inappropriate relationship' with a member of staff, which he said he 'deeply regret[s]'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/24/20/70176709-12008055-Shell_who_is_married_to_Laura_Fay_Shell_left_admitted_he_had_had-m-14_1682365647444.jpg)
Shell, who is married to Laura Fay Shell (left), admitted he had had an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a member of staff, which he said he ‘deeply regret[s]’
NBCUniversal did not say who had made the complaint, but media reports suggested it had been filed by Gamble after an on-off relationship between the pair had ended a few years’ ago
CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble accused Jeff Shell of sexual harassment and sex discrimination in a complaint that led to his ousting as NBCUniversal CEO
Gamble accused Shell of sexual harassment and sex discrimination in a complaint that led to his ousting as NBCUniversal CEO, her lawyer said previously.
Shell left his role at the company after an investigation into his conduct was launched, it was revealed earlier this month.
NBCUniversal did not say who had made the complaint, but media reports suggested it had been filed by Gamble after an on-off relationship between the pair had ended a few years’ ago.
Gamble’s lawyers subsequently confirmed this in a statement. ‘The investigation into Mr Shell arose from a complaint by my client of sexual harassment and sex discrimination,’ said Suzanne McKie, a managing partner of Farore Law, a UK-based firm.
‘Given these circumstances it is very disappointing that my client’s name has been released and her privacy violated.’
Shell, who is married to Laura Fay Shell, admitted he had had an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a member of staff, which he said he ‘deeply regret[s]’.
The details of his affair with Gamble, 41, are not known publicly.
The CNBC anchor moved to front the channel’s Middle East coverage in 2018 after it began broadcasting Capital Connection from its new studio in Abu Dhabi.
She previously worked for ABC News and Fox News in Washington, DC and also presented CNBC’s Access show on the Middle East and Africa.
Harvard- and Berkeley-educated Shell, 57, from Michigan, has been at Comcast for more than 20 years, having joined the company from Fox
He and his wife hosted a fundraising event at their $10million Beverly Hills mansion for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in 2020
Harvard- and Berkeley-educated Shell, 57, from Michigan, has been at Comcast for more than 20 years, having joined the company from Fox.
He ran international operations out of London from 2011 to 2013 before moving to serve as chairman of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment.
He took over as CEO in January 2020, and was responsible for overseeing a sprawling portfolio that ran from news and entertainment TV networks, to the film studio, theme parks and other divisions.
As NBCUniversal CEO, Shell was also charged with moving the company more heavily into streaming.
He and his wife hosted a fundraising event at their $10million Beverly Hills mansion for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in 2020, according to Variety.
Shell is the second senior executive to be forced out of NBCUniversal in recent years.
In April 2020, NBCUniversal said it had parted with vice president, Ron Meyer, after he failed to properly disclose he had paid a settlement to a woman with whom he had a consensual affair several years earlier.
Shell said at that time that Meyer ‘acted in a manner which we believe isn’t consistent with our company policies or values.’
CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble (pictured left), who was revealed to be in an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with CEO Jeff Shell before he was fired earlier this week, was also dating married Texas equity tycoon David Bonderman (pictured right)
Gamble was also at the time of her relationship with Shell dating David Bonderman, the 80-year-old TPG chairman and billionaire co-owner of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.
Their relationship was outed in a whistleblower complaint against Bonderman at TPG in 2015, listing Gamble as a ‘female companion’ who was often on the firm’s private jet.
‘TPG’s founder, David Bonderman, is known within the company to have regular female companions on which he lavishes gifts or to whom he otherwise provides benefits,’ former TPG exec Adam Levine said in a complaint filed with the SEC on March 2, 2015, according to the New York Post.
‘Ms. Gamble, especially, is known to fly with him regularly on TPG’s planes,’ Levine said, adding that he believed Bonderman paid most, if not all, of the living expenses for Gamble and his other girlfriends.
Gamble was never the focus of Levine’s complaint, which accused TPG of violating securities law. The firm settled in 2017 for $13million without admitting any wrongdoing.
The CNBC anchor’s lawyer told the Post that ‘who a woman may or may not have dated in the past is relevant to her claims of sexual harassment and discrimination.’
