Billionaire Charles Dolan, the founder of HBO and a media and sports “empire” that brought cable television to a large part of the U.S., has died. He was 98.
In addition to being the head of the family that owned Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks and Rangers teams, and AMC Networks, Dolan’s influence is felt at Fairfield University. The Charles F. Dolan School of Business was established there in 1978, having been a Department of Business Administration for 31 years within the College of Arts and Sciences.
A statement issued Saturday by his family said Dolan died of natural causes, the family’s Long Island newspaper 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.
Fairfield University mourned the loss of Dolan, who was a trustee and recipient of honorary degrees, calling him “a true friend and benefactor whose legacy will continue to inspire us all.”
“Charles Dolan’s remarkable life is a testament to the power of vision, perseverance, and generosity,” the college said in a statement. “But it was his personal commitment to education, and his belief in the mission of Fairfield University that has left an indelible mark on our community.”
Zhan Li, dean of Dolan School of Business, expressed Dolan’s importance and impact he had on Fairfield University.
“We have all witnessed the transformative impact of Chuck Dolan’s inspiring vision and enduring generosity on Fairfield Dolan School and beyond,” Li said. “The current and future generations of Fairfield Dolan’s students, faculty, staff and alumni will forever be indebted to Chuck Dolan and the Dolan family.”
A native of Ohio, Dolan started out distributing sport and industrial films before moving to New York and realizing that, because tall buildings interrupted broadcast signals in the air, Manhattan needed cable.
At the time, he was selling special programming to hotels through his Teleguide service, while cable television was taking off in rural areas.
In 1964 Dolan made a deal with New York to wire some Manhattan buildings with cable and a few years later, hoping to attract viewers, he made a deal to show the Knicks and Rangers play-offs on cable, according to Variety.
He then went on to create Home Box Office for movies, and then sold both his cable service and HBO to build up Cablevision, which ended up providing television and internet to households across the northeast.
Dolan, whose primary home was in Cove Neck Village on Long Island, 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.
At the time of his death, Charles Dolan and his family had a net worth of $5.4 billion, Forbes reported.
The Charles F. Dolan School of Business is ranked No. 23 among the best Online Master of Business Administration (MBA) Programs in the U.S. by Poets & Quants, a leading source for news on business education.
Fairfield Dolan’s MBA program is available 100 percent online or in a hybrid format. The MBA program has a 99 percent employment rate post-graduation, and offers flexible concentration options as a STEM-designated degree.
Dolan’s MBA ranking by Poets & Quants highlights its academic excellence and strong outcomes, placing it in company among strong business school programs like Wake Forest University (No, 25), Villanova University (No. 28), and the University of Connecticut (No. 33).
