(Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp has hired Mark Kornblau, a NBCUniversal executive and former communications director in the Obama administration, to head its global communications team, the Japanese conglomerate said on Wednesday.
Kornblau will fill in the position left vacant by Gary Ginsberg, who resigned in December last year, according to media reports.
Ginsberg was on an indefinite leave of absence since last January to advise Michael Bloomberg's U.S. presidential campaign, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Ginsberg has also served as a top adviser to Rupert Murdoch and in former U.S. President Bill Clinton's administration.
Kornblau will join Softbank (OTC:SFTBY) on Aug. 16 from the NBCUniversal News Group, where he is executive vice president of communications. He will be based in SoftBank's New York office and report to Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son and Marcelo Claure, CEO of SoftBank Group International.
Before NBCUniversal, Kornblau was managing director of corporate communications for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and served as spokesperson for Ambassador Susan Rice at the United States Mission to the United Nations.
Kornblau has also held senior communications roles on two U.S. presidential campaigns, on Capitol Hill and on U.S. House and Senate campaigns.