Charles Francis Dolan (born October 16, 1926) is an American billionaire businessman, best known as founder of
Cablevision
Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...
and
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
.
Today, Dolan controls
Madison Square Garden Sports
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (also known as MSG Sports) is an American sports holding company based in New York City.
MSG Sports manages professional sports teams. These include the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks and t ...
,
MSG Networks
The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional sports network, regional cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network, and radio broadcasting, radio service owned by Madison Square Garden Entertainment, MSG Entertai ...
,
Madison Square Garden Entertainment
Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (also known as MSG Entertainment) is an American entertainment holding company based in New York City. The company was established in 2020 when The Madison Square Garden Company (now MSG Sports) spun off ...
,
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
,
MSG Sphere at The Venetian
MSG Sphere at The Venetian is a sphere-shaped music and entertainment arena being built in Paradise, Nevada, near the Las Vegas Strip and east of the Venetian resort. The 17,500-seat auditorium was initially scheduled to open in 2021, but const ...
,
MSG Sphere London
The MSG Sphere London is a proposed music and entertainment venue to be built in the Stratford area of London, England.
History
The MSG Sphere London is a building project of United States-based The Madison Square Garden Company, and financed ...
,
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...
,
BBC America
BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary ser ...
and
AMC Networks
AMC Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York.
AMC Networks owns and operates the eponymous cable channel and its siblings, IFC, We TV, and Sundance TV; the art house movie theater IFC Cen ...
. As of October 2021, his net worth was estimated at US$5.6 billion.
Early life
The son of an inventor, Dolan was born in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Ohio.
He served in the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
at the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and studied at
John Carroll University
John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3, ...
, before dropping out and entering the telecommunications field.
His father, David, sold a patent to Ford Motor.
Career
His earliest professional endeavors focused on the packaging, marketing and distribution of sports and industrial films, which he produced with his wife in their Cleveland home and then sold to televisions stations which syndicated the material.
Dolan sold his interests to Telenews in exchange for a job
and when Dolan was 26 he moved to New York and founded Teleguide Inc, a service that provided information to hotels.
That same decade, Dolan founded Sterling Manhattan Cable, the first company to wire buildings to have cable television access.
In its early years, Sterling forged first-of-its-kind agreements to bring New York professional sports teams, cultural programming and movies into the homes of New York City cable viewers, including agreements with the
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
and
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
.
Two years later, he sold Sterling Cable's Manhattan operations to Time Inc and renamed his Long Island business Cablevision Systems.
In the early 1970s, Dolan founded
Home Box Office
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
, the first premium programming service in the cable television industry, which he sold to
Time Life
Time Life, with sister subsidiaries StarVista Live and Lifestyle Products Group, a holding of Direct Holdings Global LLC, is an American production company and direct marketer conglomerate, that is known for selling books, music, video/DVD, ...
.
Later, he organized Cablevision Systems Corporation on Long Island and has spearheaded many of the company's advancements.
After that, he was the vision behind
VOOM
Voom HD Networks is a suite of 25 original high-definition television channels owned by AMC Networks. The channels were produced in Crystal Clear Hi-Definition with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and were the largest suite of HD channels in t ...
, Cablevision's effort to expand content delivery and meet the demands of the exploding HDTV market, which was expected to include 6 million households by the end of 2003 and 12 million by year-end 2005, but was shut down when other directors deemed it financially unsustainable.
From 2001 through early 2002, Dolan was a bidder in the sale of the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
. He submitted a maximum bid of $750 million, but ultimately lost out to a group headed by
John Henry,
Tom Werner
Thomas Charles Werner (born April 12, 1950) is an American television producer and businessman. Through his investment in Fenway Sports Group, he is currently chairman of both Liverpool Football Club and the Boston Red Sox.
Werner first became ...
, and
Larry Lucchino
Lawrence Lucchino (born September 6, 1945) is an American lawyer, best known as an executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as president of the Baltimore Orioles, president/CEO of the San Diego Padres, and president/CEO of th ...
.
In 2016, Dolan sold
Cablevision
Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...
to
Patrick Drahi
Patrick Drahi ( he, פטריק דרהי; born 20 August 1963) is a French–Israeli billionaire, businessman telecoms, media tycoon, and investor, magnate. He has been living in Switzerland since 1999.. He is the founder and controlling shareho ...
's
Altice USA
Altice USA, Inc., commonly known as Altice, is an American cable television provider with headquarters in New York City. It delivers pay television, Internet access, telephone services, and original television content to approximately 4.9 milli ...
for $17.7 billion.
Affiliations and honors
* Dolan is a trustee of
Fairfield University
Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...
and a member of the board of governors of St. Francis Hospital in
Port Washington, New York
Port Washington is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), No ...
.
* In November 2016, Dolan received an honorary doctorate from
Fairfield University
Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...
, in recognition of his remarkable contribution to our culture industry, for his exemplary vision and tenacity as a media pioneer, and for his important contribution to Fairfield University as a trustee and donor who has supported scholarship funds and the
Charles F. Dolan School of Business
Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-tim ...
.
Personal life
Dolan and his wife, Helen Ann, reside in
Oyster Bay,
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
. They have six children,
including
James L. Dolan
James Lawrence Dolan (born May 11, 1955) is an American businessman who serves as executive chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden Sports and Madison Square Garden Entertainment and executive chairman of MSG Networks. As the companies' cha ...
,
who is executive chairman of the
Madison Square Garden Company
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (also known as MSG Sports) is an American sports holding company based in New York City.
MSG Sports manages professional sports teams. These include the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks and t ...
and its professional sports teams, the
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
and
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
, and Patrick Dolan, principal owner and publisher of ''Newsday''.
Charles Dolan's younger brother
Larry Dolan
Lawrence J. Dolan (born February 8, 1931) is an American retired attorney and the principal owner of the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Education
Dolan attended St. Ignatius High School and got his law degree from Universit ...
and nephew
Paul Dolan own the
Cleveland Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...
.
Politics
Dolan contributed to
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's 2020
reelection campaign.
Donations
The
Fairfield University Dolan School of Business
Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-tim ...
at
Fairfield University
Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...
is named in recognition of his $25 million donation in 2000 and his service to the university as a member of the board of trustees.
The Dolan Center for Science and Technology is
John Carroll University
John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3, ...
's showcase building. Completed in 2003 at a cost of over $66 million, it houses JCU's science departments, including Mathematics and Computer Science.
"Explore the Dolan Center for Science and Technology – Mathematics and Computer Science"
John Carroll University website (October 2016).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolan, Charles
1926 births
Living people
American billionaires
American cable television company founders
HBO people
Dolan family
John Carroll University alumni
Fairfield University alumni
New York Rangers owners
Businesspeople from Cleveland
Military personnel from Cleveland
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II