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The comma in the second element allows—I would even say requires—one to separate elements of a list with semicolons. I don’t have a copy of the NYT Style Guide, but I just consulted my Chicago Style guide, and it is explicitly permitted.

Grammarians have spoken!

You have to admit that it's a confusing sentence though!

I absolutely do. I probably would have worded it differently.

Semicolons are valid (especially) when the list items themselves contain commas - such as "its parent company's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt".

The Oatmeal isn't necessarily an authority, but explicitly lists "use semicolons as a super comma!" as one of their uses:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon