TerreStar Corporation (TSTR), formerly Motient Corp. and American Mobile Satellite Corp., was the controlling shareholder of TerreStar Networks Inc., TerreStar National Services, Inc. and TerreStar Global Ltd., and a shareholder of SkyTerra Communications. 34 / 50 Indeed, Ergen ordered Dish to bid $2.2 billion on these assets. [28], He is married to Cantey ("Candy") McAdam.

[21][29], Ergen was recognized with a Rocky Mountain News' Business Person of the Year Award in 1996, and honoured a second time in 2001. In the early 2000s, Dish Network received criticism regarding controversial technology and carriage disputes with programming providers. On May 21, 2013, Sirius XM Holdings, Inc. was incorporated, and in November 2013, Sirius XM reorganized their corporate structure, which made Sirius XM Radio Inc. a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of Sirius XM Holdings, Inc. SkyTerra (SKYT), formerly Mobile Satellite Ventures, was a Reston, Virginia company that developed telecommunications systems that integrate satellite and terrestrial radio communication technologies into one system. [9], In 1990 Ergen elevated EchoStar's profile by raising $335 million in junk bonds and purchasing orbital slots for satellites. Ergen has climbed all of Colorado's 53 fourteeners (peaks over 14,000 feet) as well as reaching the top of Kilimanjaro and Mount Everest's base camp. Within a span of two years, with the efforts put in by Ergen, EchoStar had nearly doubled its initial investment and received close to $20.4 million by 1993. Not much is known about the Ergen children except that they are a total of five and constantly support their father in expanding their family business and other causes that Charles stands for. After graduating with an M.B.A. from Wake Forest in 1976, Ergen worked as a financial analyst for Frito-Lay. Candy and Charlie Ergen. He stepped down as CEO of Dish in May 2011 in favor of Joseph Clayton. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen Talks Wireless Networks - D: Dive in Media. In 2012, the Big Four Broadcasters, NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox filed a suit against Dish after it launched AutoHop, a technology that records broadcasting programming and plays it back without commercials. The C-Band antennas that he sold were just starting to pick up and it was with this that his initial investment got the return that he had expected.

The company has approximately 16,000 employees. View Charlie Ergen’s profile on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional community. Charles William Ergen (born March 1, 1953) is an American billionaire businessman. Charlie Ergen - 1953 Residence: Denver, CO Getting his start selling satellite dishes from the back of a pickup truck in the 1980s, today Charlie Ergen is chairman and co-founder of the $15 billion satellite TV provider DISH Network, and head of EchoStar, the DISH spinoff, focused on satellite communications hardware. He was CEO of satellite TV provider Bell ExpressVu and acted as President of Bell Mobility where he joined forces with Sir Richard Branson to launch Virgin Mobile Canada. From the ups to the downs, Ergen has created a Dish TV empire that arguably started the juggernaut of sky-high prices that satellite television is worth today. [22]:83 His parents married in Minnesota in 1944 and then moved to Camden, New Jersey, before settling in Oak Ridge where his father accepted a position at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Hughes Network Systems, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar. He started out as a professional gambler and had won a lot of money with his future business partner, Jim De Franco, before being accused of counting cards at a casino in Nevada. They started the company with a mere $60,000 and began targeting areas around Denver. [21] [29], Ergen was recognized with a Rocky Mountain News' Business Person of the Year Award in 1996, and honoured a second time in 2001. Sanjiv Ahuja is a telecommunications executive, the chairman and CEO of Tillman Global Holdings. With smart and innovative tactics, he was able to lure American customers into purchasing his idea and managed to create an empire with sheer efforts and skill. It is owned by MVS Comunicaciones (51%) and Dish Network Corporation (49%). [5][6] Afterward, he was a professional gambler, playing poker and blackjack. PrimeStar was a U.S. direct broadcast satellite broadcasting company formed in 1991 by a consortium of cable television system operators and GE Americom, the satellite arm of General Electric, collectively referred to as the PrimeStar Partners. Sign up for our email updates. HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: Cantey served as a member of the board of trustees of Children’s Hospital Colorado from 2001 to 2012 and is now an honorary lifetime member. Charles’ mother, Viola used to work as an accountant. [32]. The signals are transmitted by an 18-metre (59 ft) reflector on the satellite. After graduating with an M.B.A. from Wake Forest in 1976, Ergen worked as a financial analyst for Frito-Lay. The Telluray FoundationFoundation Source, 501 Silverside Rd.Wilmington, DE 19809(800) 839-1754. [21] Ergen is an avid mountain climber who has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Everest base camp in Nepal. The company is currently headquartered in Staines, United Kingdom. Most popular video on Youtube. They have five children. Charles William aka ‘Charlie’ Ergen is an American business mogul, philanthropist, and is the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Dish Network and EchoStar Communications Corporation. He holds ownership of 52 percent of Dish and Echostar shares and also about 88 percent of the total voting power in the board. OVERVIEW: Charles Ergen, his wife Cantey, and family conduct their philanthropy through the Telluray Foundation, which made around $1 million in grants in a recent year. [4]:8 He holds 78 percent of Dish's[4]:6 and 72 percent of EchoStar's[4]:8 total voting power. The couple's children—Chris, Courtney, and Kerry—may eventually take on a greater role in philanthropy. It had a launch mass of 6,910 kilograms (15,230 lb), making it the second most massive single satellite launched into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, and the second largest commercial communications satellite ever built. They drove around the Denver metro area on a small budget, selling satellite dishes from the back of their truck. Charles William Ergen (born March 1, 1953) is an American billionaire businessman. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, merging them into SiriusXM Radio. [22] :83 His parents married in Minnesota in 1944 and then moved to Camden, New Jersey, before settling in Oak Ridge where his father accepted a position at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Lumen Technologies is an American telecommunications company headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, that offers communications, network services, security, cloud solutions, voice, and managed services. [21] Ergen is an avid mountain climber who has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Everest base camp in Nepal. About          Contact         Help         Login         Privacy Policy       Terms of Use, The Real Detroit Giver: A Quick Look At Eminem's Philanthropy, Jane Fonda's Philanthropy: A Hollywood Legend Keys in on Reproductive Health, The Hip Hop Mogul Getting Behind a Black College, and More, When He's Not Wolverine, This Aussie Actor Supports Children's Welfare, Past as Prologue: Where Serena Williams's Philanthropy Comes From, An Activist Actor's Climate Group Is Moving Rapid Grassroots Grants. [20] Ergen received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. The company placed its first satellite, SkyTerra-1, in orbit on November 14, 2010. The company also has a 70% equity interest in Sirius XM Canada, an affiliate company that provides Sirius and XM service in Canada. In 1993, EchoStar Communications was incorporated. Ergen graduated in General Business and Accounting from the University of Tennessee. [5][7], In 1980 Ergen, his future wife Candy, and Jim DeFranco started a new business called EchoSphere Corporation, investing $60,000[8] to purchase two C-Band antennas, targeting rural Colorado. [13] [14].

[22] [23] His mother was one of the first female accountants in the state of Minnesota. [1] They live in The Village at Castle Pines, Colorado.