Rocco B. Commisso

Born in Calabria, Italy, Commisso migrated to the United States at age 12.[5] Commisso attended Mount Saint Michael Academy high school in the Bronx[6] and attended Columbia University on a full undergraduate scholarship where he earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering in 1971. He earned an MBA in 1975 from Columbia Business School.[7] He was co-captain of Columbia's varsity football (soccer) team;[8] elected president of the business school student body; and received the business school service award.[9]

Commisso began his business career at Pfizer Inc. 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.[10] 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.[11]

Commisso has been the chairman and CEO of Mediacom Communications Corporation, since 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[12] 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.[12] Since that time Mediacom was named the best cable company in the US in 2016[13] and in 2009 by CableFAX magazine.[14]

Commisso serves on the board of directors of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association,[15] C-SPAN[16] and Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.[17] He is also a member of the Cable TV Pioneers.[18]

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.[39] The school of business also recognized him as a Select Distinguished Alumni.[40] Commisso is the recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Southwest Connecticut/New York Hudson Valley region,[12] the Innovator Award for Business Strategy from Cablevision magazine,[41] and the National Italian American Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.[42] In 2007, he was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.[43] In 2008, he served as Co-Chair of the Cable Show staged in New Orleans.[44] In 2009, Commisso was presented with the Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership,[45] 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.[46] In June 2011, Commisso was inducted into the Cable Center Hall of Fame.[47] In 2015, he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honour.[48] In 2018, Commisso was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.[49]

Commisso is married to Catherine, they have two children, and live in Saddle River, New Jersey.[1][50] As of 2015, Catherine Commisso is head of corporate administration for Mediacom.[50]