Jeremy Darroch stands down after 13 years as boss of Sky
VETERAN Sky boss Jeremy Darroch is stepping down after more than 13 years at the helm of the media titan.
One of the longest-serving bosses of a major British firm, he will be replaced by Comcast executive Dana Strong ( pictured) who is formerly president and chief operating officer of Virgin Media UK and chief transformation officer of telecoms firm Liberty Global.
She will be the first woman to lead Sky in its 40-year history. Darroch, 58, will become executive chairman for 2021 before taking on an advisory role. He made a fortune when Sky was sold to US broadcaster Comcast in 2018 for almost £30bn. The father of three bagged more than £38m selling the shares he owned and held in incentive plans to Comcast. That took his total pay since he became chief executive in 2007 to more than £115m. For Sky, Darroch may well have been worth it – he tripled the size of the business and ramped up the customers to almost 24m.
Sky has not disclosed his pay since the takeover, but it is understood to be over £1m per year. In 2020 he donated six months’ pay to organisations tackling problems caused by the pandemic.
Darroch said: ‘With the business firmly settled into the wider Comcast Corporation and a strong plan in place, now is the right time.’
Brian Roberts, Comcast chairman, said of Strong: ‘She is an accomplished executive with an extraordinary ability to transform, inspire and drive positive change.’