Charles Dolan, cable-TV pioneer and founder of HBO, dead at 98
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Charles Dolan, the cable-television pioneer who founded Cablevision and HBO and acquired control of Madison Square Garden and its various businesses, has died at 98.
A statement issued Saturday by his family said Dolan died of natural causes, Newsday reported late Saturday.
"It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved father and patriarch, Charles Dolan, the visionary founder of HBO and Cablevision," the statement said.
Dolan's legacy in cable broadcasting includes the 1972 launch of Home Box Office, later known as HBO, and founding Cablevision in 1973 and the American Movie Classics television station in 1984. He also launched News 12 in New York City, the first 24-hour cable channel for local news in the U.S., Newsday reported.
"Though his personal generosity and business acumen will be remembered by many Long Islanders, Charles Dolan's lasting legacy is in the power of ideas that helped transform television, the defining medium of our age, and the American society it reflected," Thomas Maier wrote in an appreciation in Newsday.
The Cleveland native, who dropped out of John Carroll University in suburban Cleveland, completed the sale of Cablevision to Altice, a European telecommunications and cable company, for $17.7 billion in June 2016.
Dolan, whose primary home was in Cove Neck Village on Long Island in New York, also held controlling stakes in companies that owned Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers, Newsday reported.
James L. Dolan, one of his sons, was the Cablevision CEO from 1995 until the 2016 sale to Altice. He now is the executive chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. The company owns the Knicks and Rangers franchises, among other properties, according to the MSG Sports website.
Newsday, which Cablevision purchased in 2008, also came under the control of Altice with the sale. Patrick Dolan, another son of Charles Dolan, led a group that repurchased 75% of Newsday Media Group in July 2016. Patrick Dolan then purchased the remaining 25% stake in 2018.
At the time of his death, Charles Dolan and his family had a net worth of $5.4 billion, Forbes reported.
Dolan was a founder and chairman emeritus of The Lustgarten Foundation in Uniondale, New York, which conducts pancreatic cancer research.
He is survived by six children, 19 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. His wife, Helen Ann Dolan, died in 2023, Newsday reported.
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