Cesar Conde Was Just Named Head of NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC. Who is He?

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NBCUniversal reorganized its news networks into one unit and anointed a new leader to oversee them: Cesar Conde.

Conde assumed the newly created role of NBCUniversal News Group chairman — in charge of NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC — according to a Monday announcement. As part of that unexpected shakeup, it was also announced that longtime NBC News chief Andrew Lack would be stepping down.

With Lack stepping down, Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC, Noah Oppenheim, the president of NBC News, and Mark Hoffman, chairman of CNBC, will report to Conde — who was promoted after a widely hailed run at Telemundo.

Conde served as the chairman of NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises for the last five years. His promotion is one of the first major shakeups from Jeff Shell, who was named CEO of NBCUniversal late last year.

The 46-year-old Conde was born in New York, but grew up in Miami, Florida. After getting his MBA at the University of Pennsylvania, Conde took a job at Univision. He worked there for a decade, half of which he served as president. Between 2002 and 2003, he took a leave of absence to serve under then-Secretary of State Colin Powell.

“I got a chance to see leadership at its highest level,” Conde said of the experience in 2019. “This was essentially like seeing a CEO run a multinational corporation.”

Conde jumped to Telemundo in 2013. Under his leadership, the NBC property overtook Univision in coveted ratings demographics.

Shell, who Conde will report to, said the following in a statement about the new leader of NBCU’s news empire:

Cesar is a well-respected, strategic leader who has succeeded in multiple roles at NBCUniversal since joining the company in 2013. Most recently, Cesar has overseen unprecedented growth at Telemundo, which under his leadership has become the number one Spanish-language network, and through its news division has played a critical role in the expansion of news operations, breaking news coverage and trailblazing political reporting. Cesar’s valuable and relevant experience leading broadcast networks and news divisions, combined with his high degree of integrity and proven management skills, make him the right person to lead our news group into the future.