James Dolan | Owner New York Knicks

James Dolan | Owner New York Knicks

James Dolan | Owner New York Knicks
Although he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, thanks to his very wealthy, cable-TV pioneer father Charles Dolan, James has learned the business from the ground up, including a stint in Cleveland as a sports-radio station manager. Today, James is the president of Cablevision Systems Corporation and executive chairman of Madison Square Garden (MSG) and an owner of the New York Knicks. Riddled with controversy, a stint at the Hazelden clinic for drug problems, and bad luck with his purchase of the Wiz electronics stores that went kaput, Dolan is unpopular with Knicks fans who accuse him of bad management and poor business decisions. Fans blame Dolan for the team's problems pointing to missteps like paying former player Allan Houston a 6-year, $100 million contract in 2001 - about $25 million more than any other team offered. Houston retired four years later with over $40 million left on his contract. The Knicks have not won a playoff game since 2001 and a fan poll by Sports Illustrated ranked Dolan as the worst owner in the NBA. James started the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research and has donated money to many other causes including a hospital in Africa and Hurricane Katrina victims.

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Dolan, 55, is married and resides in Oyster Bay on Long Island with his second wife, Kristin, a Cablevision executive. They have five children and live in a lavish 10,000-square-foot Colonial mansion in Oyster Bay, next door to his father's even more lavish home. Dolan also owns a smaller adjacent house, which he's converted into a music studio for his music band. Dolan performs blues-inspired rock as the singer for JD & The Straight Shot. He tried to sell his home in 2006 for $13.5 million but it didn't sell.

Source: virtualglobetrotting.com