Comcast CEO Tries To Cheer Up Employees Following Implosion Of Time Warner Cable Merger

You have to respect a man who had the foresight to allow his dad to build him a multibillion-dollar cable and Internet empire.

You have to respect a man who had the foresight to allow his dad to build him a multibillion-dollar cable and Internet empire.

While the majority of American consumers were opposed to the merger of the nation’s two largest cable/Internet providers, there is a large group of people for whom today’s news may be a big downer: Comcast employees.

In an effort to cheer up his thousands of Kabletown staffers, CEO and Comcast scion-in-chief Brian Roberts wrote them all a heartwarming message.

“Throughout the process, we have had an amazing team and great momentum and the company has worked hard to deliver strong results,” reads the letter. “Thank you for all you have done to accomplish that. We can now quickly turn our attention to what’s next for Comcast and continue to do great things for our existing customers. We’ve never been in a better position to do that than the one we are in right now.”

Of course, that brings up the question: If Comcast has truly “never been in a better position,” then why did it think it needed to spend $45 billion on the one cable company with a worse reputation for customer service?

“Comcast is such a great company, and within the past year alone, we have seen amazing operational performance, teamwork, creativity and dedication,” continues Roberts, who worked his way to the top of the $150 billion company by being born into the Roberts family. “While today’s announcement may feel disappointing, particularly to our employees who have worked so hard to plan for the integration, we should all be incredibly proud of ourselves.”

Roberts also has to smooth over things with the thousands of employees who would have been spun off, traded, or lost their jobs because of all the market-shuffling involved in the deal.

“For those of you who were willing to make moves in support of our new footprint, we thank you,” he writes, with such emotion that you can almost see the tears welling in his eyes. “In addition, we are so glad to be keeping our terrific systems in Heartland, Twin Cities, Tennessee and Alabama now that the related transactions with Charter and formation of GreatLand Connections will no longer occur.”

Roberts concludes by reminding everyone to shut up and not talk to the media.

“There will be a lot of press coverage over the next couple of days,” he writes. “Just as we’ve done over the past year, the best thing we can all do is stay focused on our customers and our business.”

That’s right. Get back to begging customers not to leave, calling employers of complaining customers to get them fired from their jobs, cashing customers’ rent checks, lying to homeowners about their homes having service, lying to customers about data caps, and changing customers names to “A**hole” and “Super Bitch.”

Below is the full text of the letter, thanks to DSLreports.com.

We’re writing to you today with an important update on our proposed transaction with Time Warner Cable (TWC). We are terminating our merger agreement with TWC as well as the agreement with Charter Communications.

While we and TWC believed our combination was a great next step for our companies, we knew from the beginning there would be regulatory hurdles to approval. And even though we were hoping for a different outcome, we have elected to terminate this transaction.

Throughout the process, we have had an amazing team and great momentum and the company has worked hard to deliver strong results. Thank you for all you have done to accomplish that. We can now quickly turn our attention to what’s next for Comcast and continue to do great things for our existing customers. We’ve never been in a better position to do that than the one we are in right now.

Comcast is such a great company, and within the past year alone, we have seen amazing operational performance, teamwork, creativity and dedication. While today’s announcement may feel disappointing, particularly to our employees who have worked so hard to plan for the integration, we should all be incredibly proud of ourselves.

Over the past year, a lot of planning and preparation has been accomplished, and many of you were already looking ahead to support our post-close organizational structure. That structure was contingent upon the close of the TWC transaction. For those of you who were willing to make moves in support of our new footprint, we thank you. In addition, we are so glad to be keeping our terrific systems in Heartland, Twin Cities, Tennessee and Alabama now that the related transactions with Charter and formation of GreatLand Connections will no longer occur.

There will be a lot of press coverage over the next couple of days. Just as we’ve done over the past year, the best thing we can all do is stay focused on our customers and our business.

Thanks for everything you do.

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