Charles Dolan, a cable pioneer and patriarch of the Dolan family, which controls media companies, entertainment venues and sports teams, died Dec. 28 of natural causes, Newsday reported. It was 98.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved father and patriarch, Charles Dolan, the visionary founder of HBO and Cablevision,” the family said in a statement to Newsday, which was previously owned by Charles Dolan and his son, Patrick. Who owns it now.
Charles Dolan is best known for founding HBO in 1972, and a year later created Cablevision, one of the country's largest cable operators, which was sold to Altice in 2017 for $17.7 billion. In 1986, he was instrumental in Cablevision launching News 12 Long Island, the first 24-hour regional news channel in the United States. This gave rise to the News 12 Networks group of local news channels in the New York area.
In 2020, Charles Dolan stepped down as CEO of the board of AMC Networks, which was spun off from Cablevision into a separate public company in 2011.
The Dolan family, whose net worth is estimated at $5.4 billion, owns a controlling stake in Madison Square Garden through which it also owns Radio City Music Hall, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers.
