Roger Ailes started CNBC.

What we found

Contradicts. AP's 2017 legacy piece says Ailes joined NBC in 1993 to run its troubled cable business network CNBC, where he was credited with boosting ratings and putting it in the black. That describes management of an existing channel, not founding it.[1]

Contradicts. CBS News's obituary and the LA Times both say Ailes joined NBC in 1993 to run CNBC or took the helm there, not that he created it.[2][3]

Contradicts. The CNBC Wikipedia history says the channel was relaunched on April 17, 1989, as the Consumer News and Business Channel under Tom Rogers, with NBC and Cablevision as joint venture partners. Ailes is not named as its founder, and the launch predates his 1993 arrival.[4]

Contradicts. The New Yorker (2003) describes Ailes going to NBC in 1993 to run CNBC, an existing business-news channel in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which he took over and worked to revive.[5]

Context. Ailes is also credited with later founding America's Talking and then Fox News Channel, which may be the source of the 'started' framing, but those are separate from CNBC.[1][2][6]

Sources

6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 tier 2, 4 not rated

1. 1apnews.com · article · ca198aba8d8a4204bdf49f63dc24cab4Roger Ailes’ legacy: Transforming media and politics - AP Newsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts, context
2. 2Fox News Creator Roger Ailes Dies At 77cbsnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: contradicts, context
3. 3Roger Ailes, polarizing and controversial Fox News ...latimes.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
4. 4CNBC - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
5. 5Vox Foxnewyorker.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
6. 6How Fox's Ailes changed cable news - CNBCcnbc.com · not rated · cited for: context

Where this claim was made

Said in 2 published posts

• The Daily Beast Podcast · Sep 8, 2026“Roger Ailes, who would subsequently hire her at Fox, was then he, he, he was the guy who started up CNBC”Post →
• Inside Trump's Head · Sep 6, 2026“Roger Ailes, who would subsequently hire her at Fox, was then he, he, he was the guy who started up CNBC”Post →

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