Early career Wright began his career with
General Electric as a
staff lawyer in 1969. The following year, he left GE to take a judicial clerkship for a federal judge in New Jersey. Wright joined GE again in 1973 as a lawyer for the company's plastics unit, where he later took on several management positions. of
Atlanta, Georgia-based
Cox Communications in 1979 and appointed Wright as Cox Cable president The deal did not come to fruition, however Wright remained with Cox Cable as president until 1983. Wright was a contemporary of
Ted Turner (
Turner Broadcasting Systems),
John Malone (
TCI),
Chuck Dolan (
Cablevision Systems) and
Ralph J. Roberts (
Comcast) during the early days of cable television. Wright left Cox to join GE once again in 1983, when GE chairman and CEO
Jack Welch hired him to lead the company's housewares and audio units. He succeeded
Grant Tinker in the role. and transformed the network into a media conglomerate. NBC launched
CNBC in 1989 and
MSNBC in 1996. Both are examples of the strategic partnerships NBC created under Wright to improve distribution and content. CNBC included a partnership with
Dow Jones allowing delivery of local business and financial news in Europe and Asia; and MSNBC was a venture with
Microsoft that launched a new 24-hour news network and accompanying news website to combine the two mediums. Wright is credited with leading NBC during a time when the company became a powerful media leader, driving the company to record earnings in the 1990s. The network reported $5 billion in revenues and nearly more $1 billion in operating profits in 1996. In the early- and mid-90s, Wright and NBC led efforts to persuade lawmakers and regulators to relax rules preventing networks from becoming multichannel program providers, obtaining certain financial interests and syndication. General Electric named Wright as vice chairman of NBC's then-parent company in 2000. Led by Wright, the newly formed NBCUniversal controlled seven cable networks, including
USA Network and
Sci-Fi Channel); 29 TV stations; film and TV studios; and theme parks. and delivered a speech titled "Technology and the Rule of Law in the Digital Age" at the Media Institute in 2004. He also penned an
op-ed in
The Wall Street Journal titled "Stop IP theft". Wright's speech at the Media Institute was published in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy. His 2002 speech for the Legatus Tri-State Chapter on issues of faith and business was reprinted in
50 High-Impact Speeches and Remarks. Wright retired from NBC in 2007. When Wright first took the helm at the network, it saw operating profits of $400 million. He remained vice chairman of GE until his retirement from that role in 2008.
Autism Speaks One of Wright's grandchildren was diagnosed with
autism, prompting Wright and his wife, Suzanne, to found an advocacy group. The couple set up
Autism Speaks in 2005, and Wright became its chairman. In its first 9 years, Autism Speaks invested a half-billion dollars, focusing on science and research. Wright resigned as chairman of Autism Speaks in May 2015; as of February 2016, he remained on the board as a co-founder of the organization and on its executive committee. His book,
The Wright Stuff: from NBC to Autism Speaks, written with Diane Mermigas, was published March 29, 2016.
The Suzanne Wright Foundation Bob Wright is Founder and Chairman of the Suzanne Wright Foundation, established in honor of his late wife, Suzanne, who died from pancreatic cancer on July 29, 2016. The Suzanne Wright Foundation launched CodePurple, a national awareness and advocacy campaign to fight pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers. With no screening tools,
the mortality rate is 92% and has seen virtually no improvement in more than 40 years. Through advocacy and awareness, the foundation's goal was to accelerate discovery of detection tools, better treatments, and ultimately, a cure for pancreatic cancer. The Suzanne Wright Foundation proposed a national health policy initiative to establish HARPA, the Health Advanced Research Projects Agency. HARPA would exist with HHS and leverage federal research assets and private sector tools to drive medical breakthroughs for diseases, like pancreatic cancer, that have not benefited from the current system. On May 22, 2018, The Suzanne Wright Foundation premiered their film The Patients Are Waiting: How HARPA Will Change Lives, in New York City. The film screening was followed by a panel hosted by
Maria Bartiromo, Anchor and Global Markets Editor, FOX Business Network – FOX News Channel. Panelists included Bob Wright, Dr. Herbert Pardes, Executive Vice Chairman of NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital; Former Director NIMH, Dr. Geoffrey Ling, Col. (Ret.) Prof. of Neurology, Johns Hopkins; Founder & Former Director,
DARPA BTO, Jessica Morris, Co-founder of OurBrainBank, and Karen Reeves, President & CMO, AZTherapies. On March 15, 2022, Public Law 117-103 was enacted authorizing the establishment of ARPA-H within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Boards and affiliations Wright has served on numerous boards, councils and committees. As of February 2016, he sits on the board of directors for
Polo Ralph Lauren;
Autism Speaks, an autism advocacy group he co-founded with his wife Suzanne; Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation; and Palm Beach Fellowship of Christians & Jews. He is chairman and CEO of Palm Beach Civic Association. He is a life trustee of the
New York-Presbyterian Hospital. ==Honors and awards==