A visionary, hard-driving salesman, Ralph Roberts turned an obscure subscriber television station in Tupelo, Miss., into a communications empire, with dominant cable, Internet, and entertainment services. Although a global leader, Comcast has stayed true to its Philadelphia roots, becoming the largest company headquartered in the city. With its own office tower in Center City and a second one on the way, Comcast has almost 140,000 employees and more than $68 billion in revenue. Roberts, who died Thursday at 95, built the communications giant on the foresight to acquire cable television companies around the nation. In 2011, Comcast began obtaining a controlling interest in NBCUniversal,...
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