John Christopher Cohan (born January 2, 1950) is an American entrepreneur who was founder of Sonic Communications and was owner of the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

of the NBA.

Early life and education

Cohan was born in 1950 in Hanford, California, the only child of John and Helen Cohan, who divorced when he was seven. John Cohan was originally from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and created businesses in

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Salt pan (geology), Salt Flats") is a city in the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Monterey County, California, Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is ...

, including a restaurant and later the television station KSBW. After his parents' divorce, Chris Cohan lived in Salinas with his mother and moved to

Los Gatos, California Los Gatos (; ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franc ...

as a teenager, where he graduated in 1968 from Los Gatos High School. Cohan attended

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in recreation; in two news stories in 1994, Cohan incorrectly claimed to have studied business at Arizona State.

Career

In 1977, Cohan founded Sonic Communications, which became one of the largest independently owned cable outlets in the country before he sold it in May 1998. He assumed control of the

in October 1994 prior to the 1994-95 season for a reported fee totaling at $130 million and helped renovate the Oakland Coliseum Arena (later known as The Arena in Oakland and Oracle Arena, and now called Oakland Arena). Under Cohan's ownership, however, the team experienced only two winning seasons and one playoff appearance in 16 seasons. As of 2005, Cohan's net worth was around $325 million. In May 2007, Cohan was reportedly fighting a $160 million tax-evasion charge in federal court in the aftermath of his 1998 sale of Sonic Communications for more than $200 million. In May 2009, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' listed the top ten best and worst owners of basketball teams, ranking Cohan as fourth worst. ''SI'' criticized Cohan for sticking with coach Don Nelson as part of the Warriors' generally poor performance apart from their 2007 playoff first-round upset of the top-seeded

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

, and pointed out that Golden State was repeatedly rebuilding without much success. In the wake of such criticism and controversy, he finally sold the Warriors to Peter Guber and Joe Lacob for $450 million in July 2010. Cohan has homes in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and East Hampton, New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohan Christopher J. Arizona State University alumni Living people Golden State Warriors owners NBA executives 1950 births people from Hanford, California People from Los Gatos, California People from Salinas, California Businesspeople from San Francisco