Charles Dolan, founder of Cablevision and HBO, has died at the age of 98

Charles Dolan, the billionaire founder of HBO and Cablevision whose family owns Madison Square Garden, has died at age 98, his family said Saturday.

Dolan died of natural causes, according to a statement reported by Newsday, which has been a Dolan family property since 2008.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved father and patriarch, Charles Dolan, the visionary founder of HBO and Cablevision,” the statement read.

Dolan’s career began in New York City in 1952, when he was only 26 years old.

Dolan – father of New York Knicks Executive Chairman James Dolan – founded Sterling Manhattan Cable in 1962, which had exclusive deals with New York pro sports teams, including the Knicks and Rangers.

Ten years later, in 1972, the Air Force veteran established Home Box Office—now commonly referred to as HBO—the first of its kind premium cable channel that would revolutionize the way people watched television.

The following year, in 1973, Dolan founded Cablevision, the cable company of which he was still chairman.

Dolan, whose family has a net worth of about $5.4 billion according to Forbes, also founded News12 in New York City, the first 24-hour local news cable channel in the United States.

He is survived by six children, 19 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

His wife, Helen Ann Dolan, died in 2023.