CNN President Jeff Zucker to undergo heart surgery

CNN President Jeff Zucker will be taking medical leave to have elective heart surgery to correct a condition he’s had for 10 years, according to a network spokesperson.

Zucker, 53, is expected to be out for six weeks.

The news was shared by “Reliable Sources” host and senior media correspondent Brian Stelter on Twitter following the CNN morning meeting on Thursday

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“Jeff Zucker just ended the CNN morning meeting with news of his own: He will be taking a six week leave for elective surgery to address a heart condition he has had for 10 years,” wrote Stelter. “He assured everyone he is going to be just fine. All of us are wishing him a very speedy recovery.”

Jeff Zucker just ended the CNN morning meeting with news of his own: He will be taking a six week leave for elective surgery to address a heart condition he has had for 10 years. He assured everyone he is going to be just fine. All of us are wishing him a very speedy recovery.

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 19, 2018

Zucker, who began his media career as a researcher for NBC Sports in 1986 before quickly rising through the ranks on the news side to become the executive producer of the “Today” show at age 26, in June renewed his contract with CNN through the 2020 election.

The Harvard graduate has battled health issues before, most notably after being diagnosed with colon cancer when he was 31.

Three years after that diagnosis and undergoing treatment, the cancer returned, prompting surgery. He is now cancer free.

“I would never say that [beating cancer] made me feel invincible — but it’s prepared me for almost anything,” he told Business Insider in 2013.

As president of NBC, Zucker greenlighted “The Apprentice,” the popular reality show starring then-real estate mogul Donald Trump.

Trump as president has said on several occasions to have helped Zucker secure his job as head of NBC Universal while lashing out at CNN’s coverage of his administration.

“Ask Jeff Zucker how he got his job,” he once told CNN White House Correspondent Jim Acosta during a 2017 press conference at the White House.

The relationship between the Trump and Zucker quickly went south after Trump began tweeting and saying at rallies that CNN was “fake news” and overwhelmingly negative toward his campaign. Trump hasn’t appeared on the network for any interviews in 23 months.

Zucker has hit back at the president without mentioning his name, adding that the attacks have only emboldened the network.

“People from the administration have attacked us, called us names, just for doing our jobs. But that has only emboldened us, made us stronger,” Zucker said during at an event of the Library of American Broadcasting in September 2017.

Michael Bass, executive vice president of programming, will be responsible for editorial operations during the 53-year-old Zucker’s absence, according to a report in Variety.