Charles Dolan, the billionaire founder of HBO and Cablevision whose family owns Madison Square Garden and AMC Networks, died Saturday from natural causes, the Dolan family announced in a statement. Dolan, 98, died of natural causes while surrounded by loved ones, his family said in a statement to Newsday, an outlet owned by Charles’ son Patrick.

Charles Dolan, a pioneer of the cable-television industry who launched Home Box Office and AMC Networks, died at age 98. Dolan was the founder of Cablevision Systems, which over four decades grew into a leading pay-TV operator in the New York metropolitan area.

Charles Dolan, the astute businessman who created HBO in the early 1970s before transforming a small cable TV business on Long Island into a multibillion-dollar entertainment, sports and telecom empire, has died. He was 98.