Charles Dolan has stepped down as government chairman of AMC Networks, marking the tip of an period for the cable business.
Dolan, 93, ranks among the many earliest pioneers of cable TV. The telecom entrepreneur had the foresight to wire components of Manhattan for cable service within the Sixties and in 1971 launch the pay TV service that grew to become HBO. He’s been chair of AMC Networks because the firm was spun off from the Dolan household’s former cable empire, Cablevision, in 2011.
AMC Networks board member James Dolan will substitute his father as non-executive chairman of the corporate. Charles Dolan will shift to chairman emeritus. Charles Dolan’s web value is valued by Forbes at $4.7 billion following the sale of Cablevision to Altice USA for $17.7 billion in 2016.
“The Dolans have led this firm from its inception, and each Charles and Jim have supplied imaginative and prescient, steering and assist by its lengthy historical past of development and evolution,” mentioned Josh Sapan, president-CEO of AMC Networks. “We stay up for their continued management as AMC Networks continues to face out in a crowded atmosphere by the energy and high quality of our content material and talent to forge robust and lasting relationships with viewers and followers.”
AMC Networks additionally disclosed Tuesday that Sean Sullivan, government VP and chief monetary officer, will go away the corporate subsequent month to hitch Sirius XM Satellite Radio. His function might be changed. Sullivan’s choice to resign “was not associated to any disagreement with [AMC] on any matter regarding [AMC’s] operations, insurance policies or practices,” AMC mentioned in a Securities and Exchange Commission submitting.
AMC is within the midst of launching a $250 million inventory buyback initiative structured as a young provide for shares at a worth vary of $22.50 to $26.50. AMC inventory was down practically 8% on Tuesday, closing at $20.77. AMC shares are down about 47% for the 12 months up to now amid the macroeconomic turbulence brought on by the pandemic in addition to the particular challenges for the ad-supported fundamental cable sector that’s the core of the corporate’s earnings.
The tender provide, described as a “modified Dutch public sale,” is supposed to sign the corporate’s religion that the inventory will return to pre-pandemic ranges.
“AMC Networks has a robust monetary place and the proposed tender provide is a major expression of energy and the Board’s confidence in our firm’s future,” Sapan mentioned.
Source: variety.com
