Charles Dolan
Dolan in 2016
Born	Charles Francis Dolan (1926-10-16)October 16, 1926 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died	December 28, 2024(2024-12-28) (aged 98)
Alma mater	John Carroll University (dropped out)
Title	Founder ofCablevision andHBO
Spouse	Helen Ann Dolan ​ ​ (m. 1951; died 2023)​
Children	6, includingJames L.
Relatives	Larry J. Dolan (brother) Paul J. Dolan (nephew) Matt Dolan (nephew)

Charles Francis Dolan (October 16, 1926 – December 28, 2024) was an American billionaire businessman, best known as founder ofCablevision andHBO.^[1] Today, the Dolan family controlsMadison Square Garden Sports,MSG Networks,Madison Square Garden Entertainment,Madison Square Garden, theSphere,Radio City Music Hall,BBC America, andAMC Networks. As of December 2024, his net worth was estimated at US$5.4 billion.^[2]

Dolan was born inCleveland, Ohio, on October 16, 1926, ofIrish Catholic descent. He was the son of Corinne (Henson) and David Dolan,^[3][4] an inventor who sold a patent to theFord Motor Company.^[5][6][7] He served in theUnited States Army Air Forces at the end ofWorld War II^[8] and studied atJohn Carroll University, before dropping out and entering the telecommunications field.^[6]

Dolan's earliest professional endeavors focused on the packaging, marketing, and distribution of sports and industrial films, which he produced with his wife in their Cleveland home and then sold to televisions stations which syndicated the material.^[9] Dolan sold his interests to Telenews in exchange for a job,^[8] and when he was 26 years old, he moved toNew York City and founded Teleguide Inc, a service that provided information to hotels.^[10]

That same decade, Dolan founded Sterling Manhattan Cable, the first company to wire buildings to have cable television access.^[10] In its early years, Sterling forged first-of-its-kind agreements to bring New York professional sports teams, cultural programming, and movies into the homes of New York City cable viewers,^[11] including agreements with theNew York Knicks andNew York Rangers.^[8] Two years later, he sold Sterling Cable's Manhattan operations toTime Inc. and renamed his Long Island business Cablevision Systems.^[10]

In the early 1970s, Dolan foundedHome Box Office, the first premium programming service in the cable television industry, which he sold toTime Life.^[9][10] Later, he organized Cablevision Systems Corporation on Long Island^[12] and spearheaded many of the company's advancements.^[8] After that, he was the vision behindVOOM, Cablevision's effort to expand content delivery and meet the demands of the explodingHDTV market,^[13] which was expected to include six million households by the end of 2003 and 12 million by year-end 2005, but was shut down when other directors deemed it financially unsustainable.^[14]

From 2001 through early 2002, Dolan was a bidder in the sale of theBoston Red Sox. He submitted a maximum bid of $750 million,^[15] but ultimately lost out to a group headed byJohn Henry,Tom Werner, andLarry Lucchino.^[16]

In 2016, Dolan soldCablevision toPatrick Drahi'sAltice USA for $17.7 billion.^[2]

In 2017, Dolan and his wife Helen were co-recipients of theDouble Helix Medal withTom Brokaw.^[17]

Dolan and his wife resided inOyster Bay, New York.^[18] They had six children,^[2] includingJames L. Dolan,^[2] who is executive chairman of theMadison Square Garden Sports and its professional sports teams, theNew York Knicks andNew York Rangers,^[19] and Patrick Dolan, principal owner and publisher ofNewsday.^[20]

Dolan's younger brother,Larry J. Dolan, and his nephew,Paul J. Dolan, co-owned theCleveland Guardians from 2000 to 2025.^[21][22] His other nephew,Matt Dolan, is a Republican politician who formerly served in theOhio Senate.^[23] Larry died two months after Charles in February 2025.^[22][24] However, Paul remains the lead owner of the Guardians.^[25]

He was married to Helen Ann Dolan from 1951 until her death in 2023.^[26] Dolan died on December 28, 2024, at the age of 98.^[24]

Dolan and his wife contributed $125,000 toDonald Trump's2020 presidential campaign.^[27]

TheFairfield University Dolan School of Business atFairfield University is named in recognition of Dolan's $25 million donation in 2000 and his service to the university as a member of the board of trustees.^[28]

The Dolan Center for Science and Technology isJohn Carroll University's showcase building. Completed in 2003 at a cost of over $66 million, it houses JCU's science departments, including Mathematics and Computer Science.^[29]

• Dolan was a trustee ofFairfield University and was also a member of the board of governors ofSt. Francis Hospital inFlower Hill, New York.^[30]
• In November 2016, Dolan received an honorary doctorate from Fairfield University, in recognition of "his remarkable contribution to [American] culture industry, for his exemplary vision and tenacity as a media pioneer, and for his important contribution to Fairfield University as a trustee and donor who has supported scholarship funds and theCharles F. Dolan School of Business."^[31]

• Charles Dolan atIMDb
• Charles Dolan atRotten Tomatoes
• Charles Dolan & family atForbes
• Helen & Charles Dolan,Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
• HBO Oral History: Charles F. Dolan | Interview with Charles F. Dolan, December 20, 2013.Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania

• 1926 births
• 2024 deaths
• 20th-century American businesspeople
• 21st-century American businesspeople
• American billionaires
• American cable television company founders
• American people of Irish descent
• Businesspeople from Cleveland
• Catholics from New York (state)
• Catholics from Ohio
• Dolan family
• Fairfield University alumni
• HBO people
• John Carroll University alumni
• Military personnel from Cleveland
• MSG Network people
• New York Rangers owners
• United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II

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