Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts has turned the family business into a force to be reckoned with, writes Peter Thal Larsen.

When Brian Roberts stood up last Wednesday to announce a hostile $66 billion (€51.5 billion) takeover bid for Walt Disney, the youthful chief executive of Comcast was doing more than unveiling another big deal. Blinking under the lights in the ballroom of the St Regis hotel in midtown Manhattan, the 44-year-old was also confirming a shift in the balance of power in the media business.

For casual observers of the entertainment industry, the notion that a cable operator could take a tilt at the Magic Kingdom was preposterous. But such a move had been on the cards since the end of 2002, when Comcast became the largest supplier of pay-television and high-speed internet services in the US.

By controlling the pipes that transport entertainment and information to one-in-five US households, the company wields tremendous power over the producers of films and television.

Mr Roberts is an unlikely mogul. Thoughtful and soft- spoken, he displays few of the egomaniac tendencies often associated with jet-setting tycoons such as Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone and Disney's Michael Eisner. He surveys his empire from an office tower in central Philadelphia, away from the traditional centres of media power in Los Angeles and New York. When he is not in the office he can usually be found at home with his wife and three children.

"He's a very dedicated person but he's also unassuming," says his father, Ralph, who nurtured his son as his successor before stepping down as chairman at the end of 2001. "He is not someone who has to get all the applause."

Yet behind the unassuming exterior is a consummate dealmaker who has repeatedly shown a willingness to make large, risky transactions in his quest for size. Advisers marvel at his willingness to push ahead coolly with big deals even when others are having their doubts.

The bid for Disney is not the first time Mr Roberts has taken an opportunistic run at a powerful opponent. In summer 2001, he pounced on AT&T by launching a hostile bid for its cable assets. The ailing telecommunications group was in no position to resist and, with competitors such as AOL Time Warner distracted by internal divisions, Comcast emerged victorious, more than doubling its customer base to 21 million subscribers.

The AT&T deal was sweet revenge for Mr Roberts, who in 1999 had to walk away from a $60 billion merger with MediaOne, the rival cable group, after AT&T made a better offer. To his supporters, that episode showed his discipline and willingness not to chase a deal at any cost.

The fourth of five children, Mr Roberts was never destined to take over the family business. His father, who started in the cable industry in 1963 when he bought a network in Tupelo, Mississippi, resisted his son's initial attempts to join the company.

After Mr Roberts received his finance degree from Wharton business school, several Wall Street investment banks were interested in interviewing him. Instead, he badgered his father for a job. "This went on for a while until one day he said 'I think you're rejecting me'," Ralph recalls. "So I said: 'You can start tomorrow'. "

Mr Roberts started as a pole-climber, stringing cable as Comcast built its network. Later he moved to Flint, Michigan, and Dallas, Texas, as he worked his way up. In 1990, when Mr Roberts was just 30, his father brought him back to Comcast's headquarters and gave him the title of president. From then on they were inseparable. "They are a spectacular team," says one long-term adviser.

Even though he no longer has an executive role, the elder Mr Roberts, who is 83, maintains a seat on the board and an office next door to his son's.

In recent years, Comcast has begun to hire some senior executives, reflecting its increased size. At the same time, Comcast has been moving away from its roots as a family company.

As part of the AT&T deal, Mr Roberts and his father gave up their control of Comcast, reducing their voting stake to 33 per cent. Wall Street bankers believe that, to gain control of Disney, Mr Roberts may have to give up his voting shares entirely.

Although Comcast had been studying Disney for some time, the resignation of Roy Disney, the former vice-chairman, and the collapse of talks with Pixar, the successful animation studio, convinced executives that the time was right to make a bid. The coming US election may also have persuaded Mr Roberts that the current administration was more likely to approve the deal.

Nevertheless, the bid has caused concerns even among his admirers, who point out that integrating cable systems is very different from managing a film studio or turning round the ABC broadcast network. Critics remain unconvinced and are surprised by Mr Roberts's determination to pursue what they see as a risky deal.

Yet even if Mr Eisner is able to wriggle free, there is little doubt that Comcast - which is larger than any other media company except Time Warner in terms of market value - has emerged as a powerful force in the media business. And Mr Roberts is only just beginning to make his presence felt.