What was Charles Dolan's Net Worth?
Charles Dolan was an American businessman who had a net worth of $5 billion at the time of his death. Charles Dolan earned his fortune as the founder of Cablevision, which was sold in 2016 for $17 billion. His family also controls The Madison Square Garden Company, which was spun off from Cablevision in 2010. MSG owns the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, MSG Arena, and related television networks. MSG also owns The Sphere in Las Vegas. In 2001, Dolan attempted to buy The Boston Red Sox. His maximum bid of $750 million wasn't enough. Charles Dolan died on December 28, 2024, at the age of 98.
Early Years
Charles Francis Dolan was born on October 16, 1926, in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended John Carroll University, a private Jesuit school in University Heights, Ohio, but dropped out prior to completing his education. He then began working in telecommunications; marketing, packaging, and distributing industrial and sports films, which he produced in his home and sold to television stations.
Making Telecommunications History
In 1952, Charles Dolan moved to New York and founded Teleguide Inc., a hotel information service. A few years later, he founded Sterling Manhattan Cable, the very first company that provided wired access to cable television.
During the 1970s, he founded Home Box Office, the first paid television premium programming, which he sold in 2015 to the Time-Life company. Dolan also founded cable television company Cablevision Systems Corporation in Long Island, which he sold to Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi for $17.7 billion in 2016.
Philanthropy
Charles Dolan is a trustee of Fairfield University, a private Jesuit school in Fairfield, Connecticut, and serves on the board of governors at St. Francis Hospital in Port Washington, New York.
In 1998, Dolan and his wife founded the Lustgarten Foundation, the largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention in the world.
Since 1968, he and his wife have supported Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory – a private, not-for-profit institution in New York with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, and bioinformatics. The couple spent several years on the laboratory's board of directors. They also purchased a building formerly owned by the Cold Spring Harbor Central School District and provided it to the laboratory to be transformed into an educational center for middle and high school students. Known as the Dolan Cold Spring Harbor DNA Learning Center, it has provided learning opportunities to tens of thousands of students. The Dolans also financed Dolan Hall in 1989 – a temporary residence for visiting scientists who come to the lab from all over the world to attend scientific conferences.
John Carroll University's Charles and Helen Dolan Center for Science and Technology was funded by Dolan and his wife at a cost of over $66 million and completed in 2003.
In 2014, the Dolans financially supported the renovation of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's Demerec building, a landmark constructed in 1954 that has played a pivotal role in the furthering of genetics research.
Dolan and his wife have given their support to the Community Foundation of Oyster Bay, a not-for-profit organization that raises funds to help charitable work being done to help local residents in need. Dolan's wife served on the foundation's board of directors.
In addition, the Dolans have supported the Friends Academy, which their grandchildren attended, and, in 1999, founded the Helen A. Dolan Center – which includes a 400-seat theater with 30-foot ceilings, an encircling art gallery, a glass-fronted Atrium, art studio, classrooms, and dining hall – there at the academy.
Neil Sedaka, Charles Dolan and Diana Feldman (Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage for American Cancer Society)
Accolades
In 2016, Charles Dolan received an honorary doctorate from Fairfield University in recognition of his contributions, exemplary vision, and tenacity as a media pioneer, as well as for his contributions to the university as a trustee and donor supporting scholarships as well as the Charles Dolan School of Business which was founded by him and his wife in 1978.
Dolan and his wife were awarded the Double Helix Medal by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 2017. The award honors individuals who have been prominent supporters in the world of science.
In 2000, Dolan was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame.
Personal Life
Charles Dolan married Helen Burgess on July 4, 1950, and they went on to have six children together, including James Dolan, who is now the public face of the family business. The couple resided in Oyster Bay, New York. Helen died of natural causes at the age of 96 on August 19, 2023. Charles died on December 28, 2024, at the age of 94.
