man who started some of the biggest media companies in the U.S., has passed away at the age of 98. His family shared that he died from natural causes. They wrote, “We are very sad to tell you that our dear father, Charles Dolan, has passed away. He was the brilliant founder of HBO and Cablevision.”
Dolan is famous for a lot of things in TV and cable. He launched Home Box Office, called HBO, in 1972. He also started Cablevision in 1973 and American Movie Classics in 1984. Additionally, he created News 12 in New York City, which was the first cable channel in the U.S. to provide news 24 hours a day.
Born in Cleveland, Dolan had to leave John Carroll University to pursue his dreams. He sold Cablevision to Altice, a big European telecom company, for about $17.7 billion in June 2016.
Dolan lived mostly in Cove Neck Village, New York. He owned part of famous places like Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, and the sports teams New York Knicks and New York Rangers.
His son, James L. Dolan, was the CEO of Cablevision from 1995 until the sale in 2016. Now, he leads Madison Square Garden Sports Corp, which owns the Knicks and Rangers.
In a statement, the companies remembered Dolan’s great ideas and how he helped shape their future. They emphasized that his passing wouldn’t change the family’s ownership of these companies.
Dolan and his family had a net worth of $5.4 billion when he died. He also helped run The Lustgarten Foundation, which fights pancreatic cancer.
Charles Dolan leaves behind six children, 19 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. His wife, Helen Ann Dolan, passed away earlier in 2023.
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