Bill Bolster Named Chairman and CEO, CNBC International; Pamela Thomas-Graham Named President and CEO, CNBC.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 2001

As the next stage in the succession plan that was put in place this past February, Bill Bolster has been appointed Chairman and CEO of CNBC International and Pamela Thomas-Graham has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of CNBC.

The appointments, which are effective immediately, were made today by Bob Wright, Chairman and CEO of NBC and Vice Chairman and Executive Officer, General Electric Co. and Andrew Lack, President and COO of NBC.

As Chairman and CEO of CNBC International, reporting to Wright, Bolster will now be solely focused on driving the expansion of the CNBC franchise overseas, leading all non-U.S. efforts on behalf of CNBC. As President and CEO of CNBC, reporting to Lack, Thomas-Graham will now assume control of all CNBC domestic operations, including programming, advertising sales and the brand synergy across CNBC's TV and Internet platforms.

Since February, Bolster has been serving as Chairman and CEO of CNBC, taking on an expanded international role, and Thomas-Graham has been President and COO of CNBC, responsible for a majority of CNBC's day-to-day domestic operations. Previous to this transition, Bolster was President of CNBC and Thomas-Graham was President and CEO of CNBC.com. CNBC.com has since partnered with Microsoft's MSN Money to create a new site, "CNBC on MSN Money" that is expected to launch this summer.

Regarding the appointments, Bob Wright said: " Bill Bolster is a master brand builder. In 1991 we asked Bill to come in and rebuild WNBC, our local station in New York, and he took it to the No. 1 station in the market. In 1996 we asked Bill to rebuild CNBC. When Bill came to CNBC it had in the area of $80 million in advertising revenue. Last year CNBC made over $500 million and has become one of the biggest and most profitable brands in the world. We have now asked Bill to take on an even more daunting but strategically vital challenge, which is to build the CNBC brand in Europe and Asia, working with our partners at Dow Jones & Co. I cannot think of anyone more qualified for the task. Knowing his tenacity and passion, I am confident he will be as successful in this endeavor as he has been in his past posts at NBC. Now, as CNBC continues to demonstrate global growth, it will be structured with two senior executives in place that can dedicate and focus on maintaining the strength and scale of the brand on both a domestic and international level."

Andrew Lack commented: "Pamela Thomas-Graham brings an extraordinary level of team building and management skills that we know will drive CNBC to continued growth and success. In her short tenure as President and COO, she has already demonstrated that she is an outstanding leader with a vision to bring CNBC to the next level. CNBC is one of NBC's key assets and I look forward to working closely with Pamela to maximize its enormous potential."

Bill Bolster said: "It has been a very rewarding experience to lead the CNBC management team's efforts that have brought the network from a small channel to a brand that has grown to become dominant in its category. It is now time to move on to an even bigger task of building the CNBC brand overseas with our partners at Dow Jones & Co. I look forward to the challenge of making the CNBC global brand as recognized and profitable as it has become in the United States."

Pamela Thomas-Graham said: "It's a privilege to lead such a talented group of professionals at CNBC. I've had the pleasure of working with this team since February and our talent in front of and behind the camera is the best in the business. I'm honored and excited to take over the reigns at the world's premier business and financial news network and build on its success going forward."

Bolster joined CNBC as President in January 1996. In this role, he has had overall responsibility for the global brand of CNBC, the world's most recognized business news and information network, and has overseen consumer advertising sales and marketing for NBC Cable Networks, including CNBC and MSNBC. Previously, Bolster was President and General Manager of WNBC-TV, NBC's owned-and-operated flagship broadcast television station in New York City. He has also held multiple positions with Multimedia Broadcasting and Black Hawk Broadcasting Company. He began his broadcasting career in 1965 as an on-air announcer and salesman at KDTH Radio in Dubuque, Iowa.

Thomas-Graham joined the NBC family as President and CEO of CNBC.com and Executive Vice President of NBC in August 1999. In this role, she led the management team responsible for the online activities of CNBC. Previously, Thomas-Graham was a partner at McKinsey & Company and a leader of its Media and Entertainment practice. A graduate of Harvard University, Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, she joined McKinsey & Co., the world's largest management consulting firm in 1989 and became its first black woman partner in 1995. Thomas-Graham is also the author of two best-selling novels.

CNBC is the recognized global leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage and business information to more than 198 million homes worldwide, including more than 82 million households in the United States and Canada. The network's Business Day programming (weekdays from 5:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's headquarters in Fort Lee, N.J., and also includes reports from CNBC news bureaus in midtown Manhattan, the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ MarketSite, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Calif., London and Singapore. CNBC viewers can access the financial markets in an interactive format at CNBC.com, which offers real time and archived data, customized charts, portfolios and stock tickers, as well as company news, e-alerts with breaking information, and top quality investing tools and analyses. CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia Pacific are a service of NBC and Dow Jones & Company.

Members of the media can get more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Media Village Web site at www.nbcmv.com.