Rocco B. Commisso

Rocco Benito Commisso[1][2] ([3] November 25, 1949 – January 16, 2026) was an Italian and American billionaire businessman, and the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mediacom, the fifth largest cable television company in the United States. As of 2011, the company was privately owned by Commisso. He previously worked for companies including Cablevision, the Royal Bank of Canada, and Chase Manhattan Bank. From 2017, Commisso was the owner and chairman of the New York Cosmos, and from June 2019, the owner of the Italian football club Fiorentina.

Early life and education

Born in Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, Calabria, Italy, Commisso migrated to the United States at age 12.[4] Commisso attended Mount Saint Michael Academy high school in the Bronx[5] and attended Columbia University on a full undergraduate scholarship where he earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering in 1971 from its School of Engineering and Applied Science. He earned an MBA in 1975 from Columbia Business School.[6] He was co-captain of Columbia's varsity soccer team;[7] elected president of the business school student body; and received the business school service award.[8]

Career

Commisso began his business career at Pfizer. After returning to Columbia and graduating from business school, he spent ten years in the financial industry, initially at Chase Manhattan Bank (now J.P. Morgan Chase). In 1978, he began working with cable companies and other entertainment enterprises as a part of Chase's corporate financing department.[9] He later worked at Royal Bank of Canada, where he led the bank's U.S. lending activities to the media and communications sectors. From 1986 to 1995, he was executive vice president, chief financial officer, and director of Cablevision Industries Corporation. During this time, Cablevision Industries grew from the 25th to the 8th largest cable company in the United States, with around 1.3 million customers at the time of its merger with Time Warner.[10]

Commisso was the chairman and CEO of Mediacom Communications Corporation from the time when he founded the company in 1995 out of his basement. Initially, Mediacom acquired cable systems in underserved smaller American communities. Commisso took Mediacom public in 2000[11] after which time it grew to become the 8th largest cable operator in the United States with annual revenues of over $1.6 billion. In March 2011, the company then went private and wholly owned by Commisso.[11] Since that time Mediacom was named the best cable company in the US in 2016,[12] and in 2009 by CableFAX magazine.[13] Commisso also served on the board of directors of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association,[14] C-SPAN,[15] and Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.[16] He was also a member of the Cable TV Pioneers.[17]

Soccer

Recognition

In 2004, on the 250th anniversary of Columbia's founding, the school's newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, listed Commisso among Columbia's 250 greatest undergraduate alumni of all time.[40] The school of business also recognized him as a Select Distinguished Alumni.[41] Commisso was the recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Southwest Connecticut/New York Hudson Valley region,[11] the Innovator Award for Business Strategy from Cablevision magazine,[42] and the National Italian American Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.[43] In 2007, he was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.[44] In 2008, he served as co-chair of the Cable Show staged in New Orleans.[45] In 2009, Commisso was presented with the Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership,[46] the cable industry's highest honor. In 2010, he was welcomed into the SUNY New Paltz School of Business Hall of Fame and named Business Person of the Year.[47] In June 2011, Commisso was inducted into the Cable Center Hall of Fame.[48] In 2015, he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honour.[49] In 2018, Commisso was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.[50]

Personal life and death

Commisso was married to Catherine, they had two children, and lived in Saddle River, New Jersey.[51][52] As of 2015, Catherine Commisso is head of corporate administration for Mediacom.[52] Commisso died on January 16, 2026,[53] at the age of 76, "after a prolonged period of medical treatment."[54][55][56] Commisso's funeral was held on January 21 at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Commisso was buried at Maryrest Cemetery & Mausoleum, Mahwah, New Jersey. A memorial mass for Commisso was celebrated in Florence, at the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore on January 26.[57]

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