The CEO of NBCUniversal has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Jeff Shell, who has headed NBCUniversal since January, revealed the news in a Thursday staff memo. "I recently have been feeling under the weather and just learned that I have tested positive for COVID-19," he wrote, reports The Wrap. He said "the virus has been tough to cope with," though he has "managed to work remotely in LA and am improving every day."
Shell made this announcement after emphasizing the importance of working from home amid the pandemic when possible, writing, "for those of you who can do your jobs from home, it is absolutely critical that you do so."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In the memo, Shell also wrote that "our hearts go out" to the family, friends, and co-workers of Larry Edgeworth, the NBC News staffer who recently died after testing positive for COVID-19. He additionally discussed the "innovative" steps the company has been taking amid the pandemic, including releasing films like The Invisible Man for home viewing months early.
Among the most high-profile names who have in recent weeks tested positive for the novel coronavirus include Prince Charles, Tom Hanks, Idris Elba, and Andy Cohen. Playwright Terrence McNally died of COVID-19 on Tuesday. The Hollywood Reporter's Tatiana Siegel notes, though, that Shell is "by far the biggest Hollywood exec to be affected."
-
Should you add your child to your credit card?The Explainer You can make them an authorized user on your account in order to help them build credit
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate brandingIn the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance mergerSpeed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profitsSpeed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new highSpeed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
