Disgraced ex-NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell in talks to join RedBird Capital
Jeff Shell — the former NBCUniversal CEO who was ousted after an affair with a CNBC reporter came to light — is in talks to join high-profile private equity firm RedBird Capital.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Shell is in “advanced discussions” to lead the firm’s sports and entertainment investment business.
He is in talks to join the firm founded by managing partner Gerry Cardinale in the first quarter of next year.
A rep for RedBird confirmed the talks.
If what one insider called an “eyebrow raising hire” comes to fruition, Shell would join fellow disgraced media boss Jeff Zucker, who was let go by CNN after failing to disclose a consensual relationship with a colleague.
Zucker heads up RedBird IMI, a joint venture between the private equity firm and Abu Dhabi-based International Media Investments, which is currently in the pole position to buy bankrupt UK company that owns the Telegraph and Spectator magazine.
Shell was ousted from NBCUniversal in April after an investigation into a complaint of sexual harassment by former CNBC reporter Hadley Gamble.
As part of the complaint, Gamble, then 41, accused Shell, then 57, of having an “inappropriate relationship” with her 11 years earlier.
She alleged that Shell used his powerful position to pressure her for sex over a period of years.
The Post reported at the time that Gamble filed the complaint after she learned that her contract would not be renewed.
Soon Gamble, too, was shown the door, after she settled with the company, following a report by The Post that shed light on her previous relationships with 80-year-old TPG chairman David Bonderman, as well as 76-year-old California billionaire Tom Barrack, which triggered an internal investigation at the network.
According to The Journal, Shell had been serving as an informal consultant to RedBird before entertaining talks to take a permanent position.
The outlet said the former CEO has had more than a two-decade relationship with Cardinale, who founded RedBird nine years ago.
RedBird has expanded its media holdings in recent years and owns stakes in the production companies Skydance Media and Artists Equity, the studio launched by actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
It also has partnerships with several sports leagues including the NFL and ownership positions in regional sports networks including YES, the TV home of the New York Yankees.
