Lawyer, corporate mover, political power broker: A look at David L. Cohen’s career
From Penn Law to Comcast to presidential host, it's been a busy four decades for one of Philadelphia's most powerful unelected officials.
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1981: Graduates summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Cohen later refers to Penn as his “number-one passion, other than my family and my job.”
1982: Arthur Makadon recruits Cohen to join the Ballard Spahr law firm.
1987: Cohen works as a press secretary to Ed Rendell’s failed mayoral campaign.
1991: Cohen serves as campaign manager for Rendell’s successful second mayoral run.
1992: Rendell hires Cohen as his chief of staff, making him the mayor’s right-hand man and chief strategist. Cohen spearheads the battle to save the city from near-bankruptcy, writing the five-year plan that charts the path for restoring the city to financial stability. The city goes on to post five straight years of budget surpluses.
1997: Cohen resigns from city government to become managing partner at Ballard Spahr.
2002: Cohen is named executive vice president of Comcast. He becomes a registered lobbyist and builds Comcast’s vast lobbying and public-relations operations.
2008: Cohen stops registering as a lobbyist, but continues visiting Washington to advocate for Comcast. Only employees who spend 20% or more of their work on lobbying have to register in Washington, and Comcast says Cohen doesn’t meet that threshold with his 18-hour days and wide array of responsibilities.
2009: Becomes chairman of the University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees.
June 30, 2011: Hosts a fundraiser catered by Stephen Starr for President Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee, with tickets ranging from $10,000 to $38,500.
2012: Cohen raises more than $500,000 for Obama’s reelection.
January 2013: Cohen backs Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s reelection campaign, raising about $200,000.
July 2014: Cohen testifies before a Senate committee in favor of Comcast’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, saying the $45.2 billion deal would lead to innovation and consumer benefits. Comcast withdrew its proposal in 2015 in face of government opposition.
November 2014: Obama attends a fundraiser for Senate Democrats at Cohen’s home, joking, “I have been here so much, the only thing I haven’t done in this house is have seder.”
April 25, 2019: On his first day as a declared presidential candidate, Joe Biden visits Cohen’s home for a fundraiser with 150 guests.