Marc B. Nathanson (born May 12, 1945) is an American entrepreneur who has served as the
United States ambassador to Norway
The United States Ambassador to Norway (formally the Ambassador of the United States to the Kingdom of Norway) is the official representative of the President and the Government of the United States of America to the King and Government of Norw ...
since 2022. He is best known for his founding of Falcon Cable, which he sold in 1999 for $3.7 billion. He is a member of the Cable TV Hall of Fame, awarded with
''Inc.''s Entrepreneur of the Year and a former chairman of the
Broadcasting Board of Governors
The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), formerly the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), is an independent agency of the United States government that broadcasts news and information. It describes its mission, "vital to US nation ...
. In 2008, his net worth was listed as $1.1 billion by ''
Forbes Magazine
''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 repo ...
'' in their annual
The World's Billionaires
''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March ...
listing;
[ as of 2021, he no longer made the list.
]
Early life and education
Nathanson was born in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and raised in Glencoe, Illinois
Glencoe () is a lakefront village in northeastern Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,849. Glencoe is part of Chicago's North Shore and is located within the New Trier High School District. Glenc ...
and Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park is a suburban city located in the southeastern part of Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located o ...
. His father, Don Paul "D.P." Nathanson was an investor in the radio and cable industry, operated an advertising agency, and was the publisher of ''Radio Showmanship'', a magazine that focused on how to use radio for advertising. His great uncle was Nathan Nathanson, the founder of Famous Players
Famous Players Limited Partnership, DBA Famous Players, is a Canadian-based subsidiary of Cineplex Entertainment. As an independent company, it existed as a film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Famous Players operated numerous m ...
, a Canadian-based film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Nathanson graduated from Highland Park High School and graduated from the University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
in 1967. In 1969, he earned a Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...
.
Career
His first job was as a door-to-door salesman selling cable to people in their homes. In 1969, he took a job with Cypress Communications Corporation (owned by Harriscope Broadcasting) in Los Angeles, California, where he became head of marketing (Cypress was eventually sold to Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, opera ...
in 1973).
After Cypress Communications, Nathanson became vice-president of marketing and programming for TelePrompTer Corporation
__notoc__
TelePrompTer Corporation was an American media company that existed from approximately 1950 until 1981. The company was named for its eponymous primary product, a display device invented by Hubert Schlafly which scrolls text to people on ...
. In 1973, he left to start his own firm, Falcon Cable, with a self-investment of $25,000. He received a $2 million investment from his father and father-in-law, and $6 million from a bank loan. The first cable systems he ran were in Gilroy, Porterville. Altadena
Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downtown ...
, and San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...
. The umbrella corporation for the cable company and Nathanson's other ventures was Falcon Holding Group, which Nathanson served as president for until 1999. The corporation included Falcon International Communications and Falcon International. He also served as the company's CEO from 1975 until its sale in 1999. From 1988 to 1999 he also served as chief executive officer and president of Enstar Communications Corp, and as chairman of the board for each of the companies.
According to the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', "while many larger cable TV companies have scrambled to wire major metropolitan areas with flashy, 75-channel, state-of-the-art cable TV systems, Falcon has found success in operating no-frills systems in areas that get poor TV reception."
The Falcon Group formed in 1984 with Nathanson co-owner of the cable company. According to the ''Los Angeles Times'', the company was formed with other co-owners, including the Mutual Life Insurance of New York, following a $50 million deal for 18 cable systems in seven states that were owned jointly by Warner Communications and American Express
American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...
. Nathanson was a part of larger mergers between cable entities during the 1990s as well. In 1998 Tele-Communications Inc.
Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) was a cable television provider in the United States, and for most of its history was controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone.
The company was started in 1958 in Bozeman, Montana as Western Microwave, Inc. and Co ...
took a 47 percent stake in Falcon, and the following year the company was sold to Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which h ...
's Charter Communications
Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. With over 32 million customers in 41 states, it is the second-largest cable operator in the United States by subscribers, ...
for $3.7 (initial reports pegged the price closer to $3.6 billion). The deal provided Nathanson with the second largest stock holding among the Charter shareholders. According to the ''St. Louis Business Journal
American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...
'', the deal made "Charter the fourth-largest cable TV operator in the country, with 5.5 million customers." In 1994, he was ''Inc. Magazine
''Inc.'' is an American business magazine founded in 1979 and based in New York City. The magazine publishes six issues per year, along with surrounding online and social media content. The magazine also produces several live and virtual events y ...
s Entrepreneur of the Year.
Nathanson invested the profits from the sale into his investment firms Mapleton Investments and Mapleton/RDS Real Estate Group, which has investments in industries ranging from radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
to real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
to waterless urinal
A urinal (, ) is a sanitary plumbing fixture for urination only. Urinals are often provided in public toilets for male users in Western countries (less so in Muslim countries). They are usually used in a standing position. Urinals can be wit ...
companies with Falcon Waterfree Technologies, which he first invested with in 2000. He is currently Chairman of each firm. Falcon Waterfree Technologies is the largest manufacturer of waterless urinals in the world.
Nathanson became vice-chairman of Charter Communications upon the sale of Falcon and a director of the board, until 2008. He also served as director of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association
NCTA – The Internet & Television Association (formerly the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and commonly known as the NCTA) is the principal trade association for the U.S. broadband and pay television industries. It represents ...
and a trustee of the Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...
. He had also previously served as president of the California Cable Television Association, as a member of Cable Pioneers, and founded both the Cable Television Administration and Marketing Society (CTAM) and the Southern California Cable Television Association. In addition he is co-chair of the Pacific Council on International Policy
The Pacific Council on International Policy is an independent, non-partisan, membership-based organization dedicated to global engagement. Founded in 1995 in partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations and the University of Southern Califo ...
, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...
, the World Affairs Council, and several charity boards in Southern California. He is also a member of the board of directors for the Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...
.
Politics
President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
appointed Nathanson to a three-year term on the board of governors of international broadcasting of the United States Information Agency
The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill C ...
in 1998. He served as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors during the Clinton and Bush administrations, is a member of the American Democracy Institute, the U.S. Institute of Peace's International Advisory Council, and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism comprises a School of Communication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California (USC). Starting July 2017, the school’s Dean is Willow Bay, succeeding Ernest J. ...
. His tenure as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors lasted from 1995 to 2002 and included leading the Broadcasting Board of Governors through its international response to the September 11
Events Pre-1600
* 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hu ...
attacks.
In 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
named Nathanson as her representative to the board of the East–West Center
The East–West Center (EWC), or the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peopl ...
in Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
, Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. He is also the vice-chair of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
The National Democratic Institute (NDI), or National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, is a non-profit American NGO that works with partners in developing countries to increase the effectiveness of democratic institutions. The NDI's ...
and was founding chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council The Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It was created by an Executive Order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the Unit ...
for Los Angeles." Nathanson was an early supporter of Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
during his 2008 presidential nomination campaign.
Ambassador to Norway
On October 29, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Nathanson to be the US Ambassador to Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. Hearings on his nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid pro ...
on April 7, 2022. The committee favorably reported his nomination to the Senate floor on May 4, 2022. The entire Senate confirmed Nathanson via voice vote
In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...
on May 5, 2022. He presented his credentials to King Harald V
Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991.
Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...
on June 16, 2022.
Philanthropy
Nathanson bequeathed the endowment for the Marc Nathanson Fellowship program at the University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
, Nathanson's alma mater; it provides an award to a second-year MA student at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies
The Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver is a professional school of international affairs offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees. It is named in honor of the founding dean, Josef Korbel, father o ...
He also endowed an award known as Nathanson Fellowship at USC
USC most often refers to:
* University of South Carolina, a public research university
** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses
**South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program
* University of ...
.
Following a $10 million donation of art to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...
, the museum named a gallery for he and his wife. He has also served as a trustee for the UCLA Foundation and UCLA Anderson School of Management and USC Annenberg School of Communication. In 2006 they also financed the purchase of a series of prints by Edward Ruscha
Edward Joseph Ruscha IV (, ''roo-SHAY''; born December 16, 1937) is an American artist associated with the pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography and film. He is also noted for creating severa ...
for LACMA. He has also been a patron and sponsor for exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's o ...
.
The Jane and Marc Nathanson Family Foundation invests charitably and sponsors scientific studies into environmental problems like water shortages and usage efficiency. They are also known for being early supporters of AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
victims during the early years of the epidemic. At UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
an endowment produced their namesake Jane and Marc Nathanson Family Professor in Psychiatry chair.
On January 20, 2015, LACMA received eight pieces of modern and contemporary art from Nathanson and his wife, Jane (who is also a LACMA trustee and a founder and trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's o ...
); the gift was estimated at over $50 million. The works include Andy Warhol's ''Two Marilyns'' silkscreen, James Rosenquist
James Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advertising a ...
's ''Portrait of the Scull Family'', George Segal
George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...
's ''Laundromat'', Gilbert and George
Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943 in San Martin de Tor, Italy), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942 in Plymouth, United Kingdom), are two artists who work together as the collaborative art du ...
's ''Falling'', Frank Stella
Frank Philip Stella (born May 12, 1936) is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. Stella lives and works in New York City.
Biography
Frank Stella was born in M ...
's ''La Columba Ladra'', Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings" — with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been ...
's ''Fox Farm Painting X'', Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. Hi ...
's ''Interior with Three Hanging Lamps'', Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst (; né
Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
's ''And Death Will Have His Day'' and 10 gelatin silver prints.
Recognition
Nathanson is a member of the Cable TV Hall of Fame and in 1994 he was ''Inc. Magazine
''Inc.'' is an American business magazine founded in 1979 and based in New York City. The magazine publishes six issues per year, along with surrounding online and social media content. The magazine also produces several live and virtual events y ...
s Entrepreneur of the Year. According to the Milken Institute
The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California with offices in Washington, DC, New York, Miami, London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. It publishes research and hosts conferences that apply market-based p ...
, "Nathanson is a recipient of Global Green's Millennium Award and the Environmental Media Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for his environmental work."
Personal life
In 1967, Nathanson married Jane Falleck, a psychologist and philanthropist, whom he met in college.[ They have two sons, Adam and David, and a daughter, Nicole. Adam is married to actor Lauren Waisbren in 2010 and is the founder of radio station owner and operator ]Mapleton Communications
Mapleton Communications (MC) was a media company. It was formed in May 2001 to acquire and operate radio stations in mid-sized markets in the western United States. Mapleton owned and operated 41 radio stations (11 AM radio, AM and 30 Frequency m ...
. David is head of business development for Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
and is married to Sabina Spigel.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nathanson, Marc
1945 births
Living people
21st-century American diplomats
Ambassadors of the United States to Norway
American art collectors
American billionaires
American company founders
American telecommunications industry businesspeople
American marketing businesspeople
American technology chief executives
Businesspeople from Chicago
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Clinton administration personnel
George W. Bush administration personnel
Jewish American philanthropists
Philanthropists from Illinois
University of California, Santa Barbara alumni
University of Denver alumni