Charlie Ergen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles W. "Charlie" Ergen (born March 1, 1953) is the co-founder and CEO of EchoStar Communications Corporation, the former parent company of Dish Network.
Born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Ergen's father William Ergen was a nuclear physicist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and his mother Viola Ergen is the retired business manager of the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. After graduating from Oak Ridge High School in 1971, he graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (BA) and Wake Forest University (MBA). While at the University of Tennessee he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta [[1]] Fraternity. He worked as a financial analyst for Frito Lay.
In 1980, he founded EchoStar with his wife Cantey and Jim DeFranco, targeting rural audiences for satellite dish service. [1] He hosts a show called Charlie Chat on the Dish Network.
He is the 34th richest person in the world with a net worth of $9.1 Billion.[2]
One of his brothers, Dr. Fred Ergen, is a physician at St. Mary's Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.
[edit] References
- ^ "Can Charlie Ergen still go it alone?" (1 November 2004). Business Week.
- ^ Forbes
