It is not business as usual for two Colgate alumni — Stephen B. Burke ’80 and Daniel B. Hurwitz ‘86 — who were recognized for their roles as top executives.
Burke, CEO of NBCUniversal, was listed third on Fortune’s annual Businessperson of the Year ranking. He shared that spot with Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast. The duo was heralded for making the Comcast – NBCUniversal merger work.
According to Fortune: “Burke presided over a stellar year for the network, boosted by its high ratings and ad revenue during the Olympics, as well as successful television shows like The Voice and Revolution. NBC’s movie studio division also produced hits like Ted, The Lorax and The Bourne Legacy.
“Those wins, coupled with strong performance by its core cable business pushed Comcast’s shares up by more than 58% this year.”
Only Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, and Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon (No. 1), were ranked higher in the illustrious Fortune ranking.
Burke assumed the role of CEO in January 2011, upon the closing of Comcast and General Electric’s joint venture merging the assets of NBCUniversal with Comcast’s programming assets. He previously had served as chief operating officer of Comcast.
Hurwitz was recognized in Institutional Investor magazine’s annual ranking of top executives in the United States.
He is president and CEO of DDR, an Ohio-based company that owns and manages 459 value-oriented shopping centers representing 116 million square feet in 39 states, Puerto Rico, and Brazil.
Hurwitz, who has been with DDR since 1999, started his current position in January 2010. Institutional Investor named him the best CEO in the REIT sector by the sell-side community.
After Colgate, which he now serves as a member of the Board of Trustees, he graduated from the Wharton School of Business Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a frequent speaker on issues of importance in the real estate industry.