Founder Profile
Ralph J. Roberts
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is Ralph J. Roberts?
Ralph J. Roberts is a founder of Comcast Corporation, which was founded in 1963 with Daniel Aaron and Julian Brodsky.
- Company founded
- Comcast Corporation
- Founded
- 1963
- Co-founders
- Daniel Aaron and Julian Brodsky
Background
Ralph J. Roberts (1920-2015) was a Philadelphia businessman who had run Pioneer Industries, a men's belt and accessories maker, before moving into cable television in 1963.
Founding Story
Ralph J. Roberts co-founded Comcast in 1963 when he and partners Daniel Aaron and Julian Brodsky bought a cable system serving about 1,200 subscribers in Tupelo, Mississippi for roughly $500,000. He saw that cable subscriptions produced steady recurring revenue and built the company by buying regional systems. Comcast was renamed in 1969 and listed publicly in 1972. Roberts led the company until his son Brian became president in 1990, and he remained chairman until 2004 and an influential founder until his death in 2015.