Charles B. Wang
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Charles B. Wang (; August 19, 1944 – October 21, 2018) was a Chinese-American businessman and philanthropist, who was a co-founder and CEO of Computer Associates International, Inc. (later renamed
CA Technologies CA Technologies, formerly known as CA, Inc. and Computer Associates International, Inc., is an American multinational corporation headquartered in New York City. It is primarily known for its business-to-business (B2B) software with a product po ...
). He was a minority owner (and past majority owner) of the NHL's New York Islanders
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
team and their AHL affiliate. In 1976, at age 31, Wang (pronounced "Wong") launched
Computer Associates CA Technologies, formerly known as CA, Inc. and Computer Associates International, Inc., is an American multinational corporation headquartered in New York City. It is primarily known for its business-to-business (B2B) software with a product po ...
, using credit cards for funding. Wang then grew Computer Associates into one of the country's largest ISVs (
independent software vendor An independent software vendor (ISV), also known as a software publisher, is an organization specializing in making and selling software, as opposed to computer hardware, designed for mass or niche markets. This is in contrast to in-house software, ...
s). Wang authored two books to help executives master technology: ''Techno Vision'' (1994, McGraw-Hill) and ''Techno Vision II'' (1997, McGraw-Hill). Wang retired from Computer Associates in 2002. He was an active philanthropist, working with such organizations as Smile Train, the World Childhood Foundation, the Islanders Children's Foundation and the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pres ...
, among others. In January 2022, the new UBS Arena in Belmont, home of the New York Islanders, raised a plaque to honor Wang for all his work and dedication to the team.


Early life

Charles B. Wang was born in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
to parents Kenneth and Mary Wang. He has two brothers, Anthony W. Wang and Francis Wang. His father was a Supreme Court judge in the Republic of China. In the closing years of the
Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
which saw the Nationalist government flee to
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, the Wangs moved to
Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, when he was eight years old. He attended
Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is an elite public high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is one of t ...
in
Fort Greene Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Flushing Avenue and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Downtown Brooklyn to the wes ...
,
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. Wang earned a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
degree from Queens College and began his computer career at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
's Riverside Research Institute.


Business


Computer Associates

Wang and his business partner Russell Artzt established
Computer Associates CA Technologies, formerly known as CA, Inc. and Computer Associates International, Inc., is an American multinational corporation headquartered in New York City. It is primarily known for its business-to-business (B2B) software with a product po ...
in 1976, guiding the company toward its current standing as one of the largest ISVs in the world. One year later, Computer Associates became the first enterprise software company to provide multi-platform products, foreshadowing its ongoing emphasis on compatibility and integration. By 1989, Computer Associates became the second software-only company to reach US$1 billion in revenues. Wang's tenure as CEO of Computer Associates was marked by rapid growth, frequently as a result of strict hiring practices and high expectations for executives of acquired companies. Nearly all of Computer Associates' managers were promoted from within, so very few acquired managers were kept. Newly hired salespeople had some sales experience, but specifically not in software. A Master's Degree in Business Administration held little to no value at CA, so employment candidates and acquired employees with MBAs were typically rejected. It was unusual for a technician to be considered for sales because the firm's training program was geared toward products instead of professional selling. The pass/fail demarcation was sharp, so perceived inadequate sales performance meant termination. All told, Wang engaged in several dozen acquisitions and those acquired facilities were repopulated with Computer Associates employees. He was also known for his commitment to a family-oriented management style, and for promoting several women to management positions. In 1979, three years after the company's founding, Wang had installed his older brother Tony, a one-time corporate lawyer, as president and COO. Tony held the position until his retirement in 1992 to make way for Sanjay Kumar, who joined the company via its 1987 surprising acquisition of archrival
Uccel UCCEL Corp, previously called University Computing Company ("UCC"), was a data processing service bureau on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. It was founded by the Wyly brothers (Sam and Charles, Jr.) in 1963.
Corporation. In 1998, Nancy Li, Charles Wang's second wife, was named the company's Chief Technology Officer ("CTO"). Responding to criticism over his so-called "paternalistic" management style, Wang had argued that the investment community punished Computer Associate's stock price because of his refusal to override his sense of familial loyalty to avoid the appearance of nepotism. In 1998, Wang had initiated a $9 billion hostile takeover for the shares of
Computer Sciences Corporation Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) was an American multinational corporation that provided information technology (IT) services and professional services. On April 3, 2017, it merged with the Enterprise Services line of business of HP Ente ...
(CSC). ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' reported CSC management's "concern" about the tender offer by alluding to Computer Associates' "ties to foreigners." It was a pointed reference to Wang's origin and that certain Chinese government institutions (as well as those in North America, Europe and elsewhere) were Computer Associates clients. The suggestion was that becoming linked with Computer Associates would jeopardize CSC's contracts with U.S. government agencies. Blaming what in his view was a witch-hunt with racial motivations, Wang dropped the tender offer. In 2000, a
class-action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...
lawsuit accused Wang, then president Kumar and co-founder Artzt of wrongly reporting more than $2.5 billion in revenue in its 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 fiscal (April through March) years in order to artificially inflate the stock price. A previous stock option set in 1995 specified that a certain number of shares would vest when Computer Associates' shares sustained a target price. The benchmark was met in 1998, and the three executives combined received nearly $1 billion in Computer Associates stock with Wang himself netting $700 million; he had already been the highest paid CEO in the U.S. for the prior four years. Since then, at least four other class-action suits were filed against Computer Associates, all of which had named Wang specifically, and all of which were settled or dismissed without finding any liability on Wang's part. As the controversy continued to dog Wang even after he returned a portion of the stock award, he quit as CEO in 2000 and later resigned as chairman of the board in 2002. Kumar resigned as chairman and chief executive in April 2004, following an investigation into the accounting scandal which improperly reported revenue. A federal grand jury in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
indicted Kumar on fraud charges on September 22, 2004. Kumar pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and
securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in lo ...
charges on April 24, 2006.


New York Islanders

Wang was a minority owner of the New York Islanders of the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL) franchise, of which he had become a part-owner in 2000, and majority owner from 2001 to 2016. He later purchased the share of business partner Sanjay Kumar in 2004, and acquired the original Iowa Barnstormers
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
franchise, moving them to Long Island and renaming them the
New York Dragons The New York Dragons were a professional arena football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Dragons participated in the Arena Football League's (AFL) National Conference as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was founded i ...
. Wang's sometimes unorthodox decisions as owner received a mixture of praise and criticism. According to former Islanders general manager
Mike Milbury Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...
, Wang "assumed that nobody could put a goal past a sumo wrestler". Milbury said that "He was a man of his word, a guy who desperately wanted to keep the team on the Island." Wang initially had a willingness to spend money with the goal of making the Islanders competitive; however, recent team payrolls decreased as the Islanders failed to reach the playoffs between the 2006–07 and 2012–13 seasons. Wang hired Neil Smith as the Islanders' general manager during the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, but 40 days later Smith was fired due to his unwillingness to adhere to the "management by committee" style of Wang. Wang then gave the job to
Garth Snow Garth E. Snow (born July 28, 1969) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender and former general manager, president and alternate governor of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted by the Quebec Nordiqu ...
, who subsequently retired from his playing position as the team's backup
goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...
. Wang said that "philosophical differences" were the basis for firing Smith. This series of personnel moves, combined with Wang's approval of long-term contracts for Alexei Yashin and goaltender
Rick DiPietro Richard W. DiPietro Jr. (born September 19, 1981) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current co-host of ESPN 98.7 FM's "DiPietro and Rothenberg" with Dave Rothenberg. He is also an analyst on National Hockey League (NH ...
several years later, inspired a critical reaction from hockey journalists. Milbury reported that he had to talk Wang out of giving Michael Peca a ten-year deal. A ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' article investigated why certain NHL franchises could remain profitable despite poor attendance and overall league unprofitability. They found that several league owners under-reported their cable broadcast revenue; they specifically accused Wang of excluding half of the $17 million paid to the Islanders for the 2003 cable broadcast season. Wang made numerous efforts to build a new arena in Nassau County, as the Veterans Memorial Coliseum was the second-oldest active arena, and the Islanders lease ended in 2015. He was the master developer of The Lighthouse Project, a property transformation of the Nassau Coliseum and surrounding . The project was to have included a five-star hotel; condominiums; an athletic complex featuring four ice rinks, a basketball facility, and a state-of-the-art health club that would have served as the Islanders' practice facility and would have also been open to the public. The development would also have included a sports technology center, open-air plaza, and conference center. The project was deemed to be too large by Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, who made a counter-proposal that was about half the size of what Wang had originally intended. Wang balked at Murray's proposal, and decided to try to finance the building of a new arena for the Islanders with public funds, rather than paying for it himself as part of the Lighthouse Project. In May 2011, Wang, along with Nassau County, started an 82-day campaign for a $400 million bond to fund a new arena for the Islanders. On August 1, 2011, the proposal was defeated by a margin of 57% to 43%. Wang had stated that he would not have bought the team if he knew how difficult it would be, and would not do so if he had the choice over again. A ''The New York Times'' article detailed Wang's "desperate" attempts to keep the team on Long Island. Ultimately, however, Wang was unable to secure a renovated or new arena in Uniondale. Jeff Wilpon, the COO of
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
's
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
, discussed the possibility of buying the Islanders from Wang and moving them adjacent to the Mets' home ballpark,
Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...
in Flushing, Queens. There were also reports that businessman
Nelson Peltz Nelson Peltz (born June 24, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman and investor. He is a founding partner, together with Peter W. May and Edward P. Garden, of Trian Fund Management, an alternative investment management fund based in New Yor ...
wanted to buy the Islanders from Wang and move them to the Barclays Center in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. On October 24, 2012, Wang announced that the Islanders would move to the Barclays Center in 2015, after the end of their lease at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. In various interviews, Wang said that "it was Brooklyn, or out of town". Despite the move, the franchise retained the New York Islanders name as they were geographically still on Long Island, and after a short second tenure at the Coliseum moved to the new
UBS Arena UBS Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York directly adjacent to the New York City limits. Opened in 2021, it is the home of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing Nassau C ...
in
Elmont, New York Elmont is an unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City. The population was 35,265 at the 2 ...
in 2021. In August 2014, the NHL announced that Wang had agreed to sell "a substantial minority interest in the team" to a group of investors, including Jon Ledecky and Scott D. Malkin.


Philanthropy

Wang was an active philanthropist and in 1999 established th
Charles B. Wang Foundation
with the goal of donating to numerous charities that focused on bettering the lives of children and the disenfranchised. He worked with such causes as Smile Train, the World Childhood Foundation, th
Plainview Chinese Cultural Center
and the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pres ...
, among others. His donation of over $50 million to Stony Brook University for the construction of the Charles B. Wang Center was, at the time, the largest in history to a State University of New York school. He also funded the expansion of the Chinatown Health Clinic which was renamed the
Charles B. Wang Community Health Center The Charles B. Wang Community Health Center (CBWCHC), founded in 1971, is a nonprofit organization and Federally Qualified Health Center. The Health Center provides primary health care to members of the community with a focus on Asian Americans. ...
. As the co-founder and chairman of Smile Train in 1999, Wang gave a $30 million initial gift to cover all administrative expenses and henceforth remained active in the charity's efforts to help children with cleft lip and palates, in more than 80 countries. One of the more important attributes that Wang brought to his ownership of the Islanders was to expand their community-based programs through the Islanders Children's Foundation, which started in 2003 and has become a mainstay. The foundation works with children's health, education, and youth hockey development charities. In 2006, the team created
Project Hope Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is an international global health and humanitarian aid non-governmental organization founded in the United States in 1958. Project HOPE works in five main areas: disasters and health cri ...
, which is focused on developing ice hockey in China. Wang recruited women's professional hockey player, Angela Ruggiero, to the project as well. In 2000, Wang and his brothers, Anthony and Francis, donated a new law school to China's Soochow University in honor of their father Kenneth Wang and in celebration of the university's 100th anniversary, it opened officially in 2003.


Awards and honors

On May 3, 2009, Wang was honored by the Los Angeles Chinese Historical Society of Southern California in "Celebrating Chinese Americans in Sports".


Personal life and death

Wang's Cove Neck mansion on the
Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...
of Long Island is located near Sagamore Hill,
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
's home. Wang died of lung cancer at his home in Cove Neck on October 21, 2018, at the age of 74. Wang was survived by his mother; two brothers, Anthony and Francis; his wife, Nancy Li; and three children – Kimberly Dey, with his first wife, Ingrid S. Wang, and Jasmine and Cameron, with Ms. Li. He was also survived by three grandchildren.


See also

* Chinese people in New York City *
Taiwanese people in New York City New York City is home to the second-largest Taiwanese American population, after the Los Angeles metropolitan area, California, enumerating an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 individuals as of 2020. History and location The Flushing neighborhood of t ...


References


External links


Charles B Wang Project Hope

Charles B Wang Community Health Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Charles 1944 births 2018 deaths American computer businesspeople Chinese emigrants to the United States Arena Football League executives Bridgeport Sound Tigers Businesspeople from New York City Businesspeople from Shanghai National Hockey League executives National Hockey League owners New York Islanders executives People from Queens, New York Sportspeople from Shanghai People from Oyster Bay (town), New York Queens College, City University of New York alumni Brooklyn Technical High School alumni Chinese Civil War refugees Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state)